Jesus Asks: Are You a Hypocrite?

By -

Today’s Gospel reading comes from Matt 23:13-22. In this very cryptic passage, Jesus asks a couple of piercing questions:
  • Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred? Matt 23:17
  • You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Matt 23:19
Jesus asks these questions because He is not happy with the actions of the Scribes and the Pharisees. He sees them as hypocrites, as they do not “walk the talk.” Their actions differ from their speech. The Scribes and Pharisees speak of the promotion of piety, but do not act pious. They believe their words alone will suffice in garnering the desired prestige of the community. Their intentions are corrupt; thereby making their actions immoral.
In this passage, Jesus points out that the source of all goodness comes from God, not from man’s piety. Jesus uses the metaphor of the temple being more sacred than the gold within the temple. He reinforces His argument, by noting that it is the altar, itself, that is more sacred than the gifts presented at a liturgical ceremony.  The point that Jesus tries to make is that what comes from God is sacred (the temple; the altar). Everything else is superfluous.

Jesus asks you a few questions:

If Jesus were sitting across from you, at your kitchen table, and asked you these questions, how would you answer?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SAINT ELIZABETH, MOTHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST- Feast: November 5

By -
Image
Elizabeth appears in the Gospel of Luke, where she is described as “righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly,”.  I imagine that she was warm, loving and obviously a safe harbour for young Mary, who was not married when she conceived.  When Mary came to visit her, Elizabeth was pregnant with St. John the Baptist and in her sixth month: “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who has believed, because the things promised her by the Lord shall be accomplished.” 
Read more

The Memorare

By Helen Gonsalves -
Image
This popular prayer, a favorite of many Catholics, dates back to the 15th century and takes its name from the first Latin word of the prayer, "memorare," which means "remember." The Memorare is of unknown authorship, although it has been attributed to St. Augustine (354-430), St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and, with more reason, to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153). St. Bernard's sermons on Mary were famous, and it was his Cistercian monks in the monastery of Citeaux in the 12th century who popularized the name "Our Lady" for Mary. The Memorare has also been attributed to the French cleric Claude Bernard (1588-1641), known as the "poor priest" of Paris, whose homilies contain passages that echo its words. No matter who wrote this prayer, it was Father Bernard who did much to popularize it, teaching it in hospitals and prisons, where Mary's intercession was effective in working miracles of grace. The first manuscript of the Mem...
Read more

'Greater Love: Richie Fernando SJ', a joy-filled Filipino missionary

By -
Image
 I haven't been able to post for more than a week as I was giving an eight-day directed retreat to eight sisters of the Missionaries of Charity near Manila. While I had some access to the internet it was rather slow. I had intended to make a post here on the murder of Fr Fausto Tentorio PIME , a 59-year-old Italian priest, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, Mindanao, on Monday 17 October. I will save that post for a later date. As I was looking for a video about Father Fausto I came across one about Brother Richard Michael 'Richie' Fernando SJ, a Filipino Jesuit scholastic who died while trying to prevent a troubled and disabled young man in Cambodia from throwing a grenade. That was in 1996 - on 17 October. Father Fausto gave his life exactly 15 years later. I remember the mixture of sorrow and pride I felt when I read of the death of Brother Richie, pride as a missionary in the Philippines that a young Filipino seminarian had given his life so spontaneously in order to sav...
Read more