NO HYPOCRISY!

Liturgy Alive

The liturgical calendar of the year

Description

August 30, 2023

NO HYPOCRISY!

Introduction

Happy are we if we can say with St. Paul that we have done nothing to please people but that our only aim is to please God and to care tenderly for people.

We probably agree with Jesus’ strong condemnation of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. But hypocrisy is still with us today. The whitewashing of tombs goes on, and from an 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 often we are 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.

Reading 1: 1 Thes 2:9-13

You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery.
Working night and day in order not to burden any of you,
we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God.
You are witnesses, and so is God,
how devoutly and justly and blamelessly
we behaved toward you believers.
As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children,
exhorting and encouraging you and insisting
that you walk in a manner worthy of the God
who calls you into his Kingdom and glory.

And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly,
that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us,
you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God,
which is now at work in you who believe.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 139:7-8, 9-10, 11-12ab

R. (1) You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall guide me,
and your right hand hold me fast.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall hide me,
and night shall be my light"–
For you darkness itself is not dark,
and night shines as the day.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.

Alleluia: 1 Jn 2:5

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Mt 23:27-32

Jesus said,
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,
but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth.
Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,
but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You build the tombs of the prophets
and adorn the memorials of the righteous,
and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood.'
Thus you bear witness against yourselves
that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;
now fill up what your ancestors measured out!"

Intentions

– 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 works 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 for ever.

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, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Reflection:

Aug 30

Matthew23:27-32

God wants conversion, not condemnation

Jesus once again drives home the point of our preoccupation with focus on theexterior of our lives only to self-protect the inner sins and iniquity that has taken residence in our hearts.

It was the custom of the Jews of that time to whitewash the tombs in the city of Jerusalem before Passover so that no one would touch one accidentally, thus making themselves ceremonially unclean. Jesus said these religious leaders were like these whitewashed tombs, pretty on the outside, but dead on the inside.

Jesus said: ‘You also outwardly appear righteous to men.’ Outward appearance has a demerit: others might see them as righteous, but God did not. God is never impressedby what we show on the outside. He sees what we actually are, not what we appear to be to others.

Quite uncharacteristic of Jesus he spoke so strongly about these religious leaders.They are for two reasons. First, He did not want others to be deceived by them. Second, He loved these men. These men were the farthest from God and they needed to be warned of coming judgment. What Jesus really wanted was their repentance, not their judgment.

History proves that the prophets, teachers and believers in the early Church were persecuted and killed as Jesus predicted. To substantiate his words, Jesus summarised the history of Old Testament martyrdom starting with Abel and ended in Zachariah. Zachariah is classical example of man of God who was killed by those who claimed to be God’s people.

The irony we see here is that Jerusalem was the holy city, dwelling place of God and the home of the chosen people of God. It was meant to be centre of worship and symbol of justice. However, Jerusalem became insensitive, hypocritic and corrupt. We read in these lines of Gospel the anguish of Jesus over the city and people soon to be destroyed. Even as we go through similar situations in our world we are consoled by the words of Jesus: “how often I longed to gather your children together as hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” His love for us is our strength and his care, our hope.

God wants conversion, not condemnation - Youtube

Back to calendar