Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
No Hypocrisy!
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. Our guide should be the solid traditions of our faith, not private revelations.
Gospel. We probably agree with Jesus’ strong condemnation of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy. But hypocrisy is still with us today. The whitewashing of tombs continues, and from individual corruption, it has pervaded society itself. The wrongs of the state, and the Church too, are covered up. Injustices and exploitation are passed over in silence or are condemned in such general terms that even oppressors agree. We close our eyes, and our consciences are undisturbed because we think we have no share in the evil that goes on. Our deeds do not match our words.
Opening Prayer
Just and merciful God,
you know what is in us.
Forgive us that we are often so busy
that we have no time to stop and look back
to those who are too tired to follow.
Forgive us that we condemn
without having tried to understand.
Let justice and mercy and service
not be the business of others
but our concern and our life
on account of him who told us
to look for him in others,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
First Reading
Against Idleness
We urge you, beloved, to stay away from believers who are living in idleness, contrary to the traditions we passed on to you.
You know you should follow our example: we worked while we were with you,
And we did not eat food received free from anyone without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked day and night to avoid being a burden to any of you.
We could have acted differently, but we chose to set an example for you.
Furthermore, while we were with you, we made it clear: If anyone is unwilling to work, they should not eat.
May the Lord of peace give you his peace always and in every way. May the Lord be with you all.
I, Paul, am writing this greeting by my own hand. This is my signature on all my letters. This is how I sign my name.
May the grace of Christ Jesus our Lord be with you.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, but inside, there are only dead bones and uncleanness.
Similarly, you seem religious to others, but inside you’re full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.
You say: Had we lived in the time of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.
So, you yourselves confess to being descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
And now, complete what your ancestors started!
Prayers of the Faithful
– For all those who bear witness to the truth, that the Spirit may put the right words in their mouths, we pray:
– For all of us, that we may do our work and tasks in life conscientiously and with zeal, we pray:
– For us all who celebrate the eucharist, that the Lord Jesus may make us authentic and trustworthy persons, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
because he could not be swayed
from his purpose to make people truly free in you,
your Son paid with his life,
but you raised him to lasting life.
As we join him in his sacrifice,
make us straightforward and committed with him
whatever the cost to ourselves,
in honesty and truth,
that we may stand the test of your scrutiny
and live in your light, now and forever.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
the words of your Son we have heard,
were hard and addressed not only to others
but also to us, to be put into practice.
By the strength of this eucharist
help us to live as we believe
and to be honest with ourselves and with others.
Make us not only speak of peace and love
but be men and women of peace
and of community in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
Let us never give in to the temptation of trying to appear better to people than we are, perhaps somehow trying to impress God! Let us humbly ask for his blessing. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Matthew 23:27-32
"Care for your parents while they're alive."
Today, we come to the last two of the seven ‘Woes’ that Jesus accuses the Scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus denounces their hypocrisy with two examples. You are like whitewashed tombs… (vv.27-28). The tombs were whitewashed and kept clean, both to show respect to the ancestors and to avoid people unknowingly stepping over the grave and becoming ritually unclean.
Matthew, while presenting the list of woes to the Jewish Christians, explains how Jesus denounced the external show of religious perfection, a message so relevant to our communities today. Many factions within the Church engage in heated disputes over the smallest details of the Canon Laws and liturgical rubrics, all while our hearts and minds are filled with pride, hatred, and disdain for those who disagree with us.
Ironically, we celebrate the mystery of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice of love using these severely fought rituals and rubrics. Our Liturgical celebrations must be occasions to examine ourselves, identify our hypocrisy, and amend our lives.
Jesus criticises the Pharisees for being proud of the tombs they built to honour the prophets and holy people. We would find such pharisaic actions even today in people who neglect their parents when they are alive, but then organise expensive funerals and tombstones for them after they die.
In effect, children who refuse to care for elderly parents are killing them by leaving them to die. We have a duty to take care of our parents and the elderly while they are alive, not after they have died. If not, we will be like the Pharisees who were bragging about building tombs for the Prophets after killing them!