THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Tuesday of 21^st Week in Ordinary time, 2022

2Thes 2:1-3,14-17

Ps 96

Matt 23:23-26

These you ought to have done…

Dear friends in Christ, following Christ, requires that we do our very best to live like him, with consideration for other people around us. Beyond the letters, the Lord wants us to live by the spirit of the law. A situation where one decides to rob Peter to pay Paul by picking and choosing which of the laws to obey falls short of the basic requirement.

In our first reading today (2Thessalonians 2:1-3.14-17) Paul addresses confusion among his hearers. There has been some misunderstanding about the actual time of the second coming of the Lord. Possibly some have forged documents that they claimed came from Paul to support their position. Paul writes, “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” The Lord himself had told his disciples, that no one will know the hour of his coming. Rather than busy oneself with the date of the event, one should be more concerned about one’s preparedness—to be always ready. Paul, therefore, encourages the community to hold on to the tradition whether oral or written which he has handed on to them. For those who are wise, they know even today, that there is more to the faith we profess than the Bible itself contains. It is funny when people sometimes ask concerning faith matters, ‘Where is it in the Bible?’ St John lauded his gospel by saying that if all that Jesus did and taught were to be written, even if the whole world is used as writing material it won’t be enough.

In today’s gospel (Matthew 23:23-26) we have another set of woes. In the first one, Jesus condemned the attitude of paying tithes and neglecting the love of neighbor. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done without neglecting the others.” Some of the Pharisees were said to be in the habit of paying tithes on insignificant things, like fresh vegetables bought in the market, in case the farmer had failed to do so. Jesus however accused them of turning a blind eye in matters of justice and mercy and faith. God cannot be bribed. The fact that we make huge donations to the church does not mean we shouldn't see to the good and welfare of those around us. They must all go together. Jesus also condemned the attitude of focusing on external observance of the law only, without paying attention to what is within the person. Before the outer part can be truly clean, the inner self needs to be clean too. “First cleanse the inside of the cup and the plate, so that the outside also may be clean.” We may succeed in fooling those around us that we are holy by pretending, yet God the ultimate judge looks to the inside. We need to be clean both ways.

Let us pray: God, grant us a deeper faith and love so that our followership of Christ may not be superficial but a guiding force for our actions. Amen. 

+Remain blessed