August 26, 2019
Monday of the 21st
Week in the Ordinary Time
2 Thes 1: 1-5. 11-12
Psalm 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a, 9bc
Mt 23: 13-22
Gospel
Reading
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
Woe to
You
On 20 August 2013, while out on a
morning walk, Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was shot at by two unidentified gunmen
near Omkareshwar temple, Pune. After working as a doctor for 12 years,
Dabholkar became a social worker in the 1980s. He became involved with
movements for social justice. In 1989, he set up the
Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (Society for the
Eradication of Superstitions) to help eradicate superstition. His State-wide
movement targeted god men and superstitious practices. In recent years, he
worked towards getting an anti-superstition Bill passed by the Maharashtra
Assembly. A day after he was killed in Pune, the state government passed the
anti superstition bill.
Daily we see the abuse of authority and power in religion, in government and
in business enterprises leading to all kinds of greed and corruption
which undermines the very fabric of the society. Positions of service are degenerated
into instruments of personal gain, often at the expense of the weakest and the
most needy. Countries which long ago should have become rich and prosperous and
provided with a high quality of life for their people are bankrupt, in every
sense of the word, while a small group of elite live lives of shameless luxury.
The Church, too, can find itself
over-concerned with matters of money at the expense of its pastoral mission. A
diocese, a parish, a bishop or priest who is rich in a world of poverty is a
major stumbling block to the Gospel of Christ.
Jesus who is always calm
and loving becomes angry at these kinds of exploitation and unjust situations.
He criticizes the doctors of the Law and the Pharisees, calling them hypocrites
and rebuking them. In their enslavement to the law the Pharisees also found a
political gain. They could demand that others also enslave themselves to the
law. But only they had the right to interpret it much to their gains. The
law therefore became a tool for political and economic oppression. Jesus wanted
to liberate everyone from their enslavement to the law—from all law. He did not
demand, of course, to abandon the law. It was the attitude toward the law that
had to be changed. The law which had been man’s master had to be made his
servant. The human person must take responsibility for his servant, the law,
and he must use the law to serve the needs of mankind. This is quite different
from lawlessness or licentiousness or permissiveness. The law stands and its
prescriptions are still there for all to obey. But always for the good of the
men and women who are to obey them
Fr. James ML CMI
