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.”
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Reflection:
Do you
allow your faith in Jesus to transform you to become a practicing follower?
For example, His teaching on how many times
you should forgive (Matthew 18:21). Do you follow this teaching that says that
you should always be forgiving or you put limitations and conditions before you
forgive? Or you appear to forgive but deep in your heart you still keep a deep
seated hatred toward others?
Jesus in
our gospel condemns in strongest terms the scribes and Pharisees because they
teach but they themselves don’t follow what they teach. They do mission to
convert people to their faith but when they are already converted.
They
condition and indoctrinate their minds for them to follow whatever they say
even if it is already against the morals of God and society. By doing so the
followers don’t anymore follow the teachings of God but the self-serving
teachings of their leaders.
What
Jesus wants from you is to lead by example; you should mean what you say and do
what you say. You must not only put lip service to what you say and profess.
For example, if you say you follow Jesus it is incumbent upon you to be humble,
to be forgiving and not to be judgmental. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
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