Gospel: Matthew 23:13-22
Jesus
said to the crowds and to his disciples: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter
yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.
“Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make
one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as
much as yourselves.
“Woe to
you, blind guides, who say, ‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing, but
if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’ Blind fools, which
is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If
one swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gift on the
altar, one is obligated.’ You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the
altar that makes the gift sacred? One who swears by the altar swears by it and
all that is upon it; one who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who
dwells in it; one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him
who is seated on it.”
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
What is
the meaning of the word woe?
Woe is a
word that has a negative meaning and Jesus has many woes addressed to the
Pharisees and the Scribes. Why? This is for the reason that many of the
Pharisees and scribes are hypocrites. They teach their subjects to do this and
that yet they themselves are not practising what they are teaching and preaching.
These
woes are not exclusively addressed to the Pharisees and Scribes, this is also
for many of us who are hypocrites. We who are not true to our word and we who
often are good only with worship for God yet very much wanting in living our
faith.
But it’s
not yet late for us to turn things around, to make amends with God. This is for
the reason that all of us no matter how sinful have hope before God. For God condemnation
is not forever, God can easily erase His condemnation and replace it with
salvation.
Remember
the sinner who was crucified with Jesus? He was originally sinful but he
repented, thus Jesus brought him along to paradise. (Luke 23:43). Let us therefore
repent from our sinfulness while we still have the luxury of time. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment