A GOOD CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

TWENTY- FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 August 23, Monday

 

      The very reason why we are together here is that we believe in God and his Son Jesus Christ, that through the Holy Spirit we hope in the promises of God our Father and in the future to which Christ leads us, that we are united through the Spirit of love with God and one another. These are the marks of a good Christian community, for which Paul praises his Christians of Thessalonica, the first Christian foundation in Europe (the present Salonika in Greece). 1 Thessalonians is also the first New Testament writing, written in 51 of the Christian era. May faith, hope and love be characteristic for us and all our Christian communities.

      When we hold on to the letter of the law without concern for its spirit, we easily become hypocrites, perhaps without realizing it fully; also when in the name of tradition we sap it of all life, or worse, when we speak beautiful words but act differently. For example, when we speak of poverty, community, or dialogue, but live in grand style or fail to communicate from person to person. Such contradictions are not only the lot of Pharisees and scribes: they are often with us today.

 

First Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5,8b-10

I, Paul, together here with Silas and Timothy, send greetings to the church at Thessalonica, Christians assembled by God the Father and by the Master, Jesus Christ. God’s amazing grace be with you! God’s robust peace!

Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master.

The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.

 

Gospel: Matthew 23:13-22

Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them, “I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won’t let anyone else in either.

“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.

“You’re hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that’s nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that’s serious.’ What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that’s nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that’s serious’? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.

 

Prayer

God our Father,
you want us to be the body of your Son.
Let our faith be deep and strong,
like a light in the darkness
for us and for all our neighbors far and near.
Let hope sustain us on the way
to you and one another
and keep us from discouragement.
Let your Holy Spirit bind us together
in one loyal love that is always ready
to excuse, to trust, to hope,
and to endure whatever comes,
on account of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Reflection:

Woe to you…

The reading of this passage from the Message Bible better expresses the frustration of Jesus over the stiff-necked behaviour of the Pharisees and the Scribes. I would request you to listen to the passage again. The words of Jesus are to be understood as reflection for our own Christian communities and the way we behave. Today and in the coming two days, we will listen to the list of seven ‘Woes’ or the seven ‘griefs’ that Jesus places against corrupt religious leaders. They are clearly contrasting the list of beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus, on the Sermon on the Mount. The first of the woes is levelled against those who shut up the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces…v.13 . The criticism of Jesus about these Pharisees was not about the power they enjoyed, but about the wrong way of exercising the power by placing impossible burdens on the shoulders of those who were not capable of carrying them. Matthew while writing the gospel for the Jewish Christians was perhaps referring to the stiff resistance from the part of the Jews to accept faith in Jesus. Therefore, on the one hand, this can be seen as a reference to their rejection of Jesus. On the other, it can also mean that they made the observance of the Law impossibly difficult with their complex interpretations of the Thora. There are people within the Church communities who claim to believe in Jesus, but by their behavior both block people’s access to Jesus and at the same time they themselves are far from him. They wouldn’t mind to walk the extra mile, or to sail across far off places to promote their distorted catechism, creating a wrong understanding of Jesus and his teachings. How often do we come across ‘Catholic’ leaders who use foul languages to describe the Pope, bishops or priests. They regard themselves as custodians of faith creating hatred towards the vicar of Christ and create division in the Church. Situations that prevailed in the time of Jesus and the challenges that confront the Church today are very similar. We see the abuse of authority and power every day, whether in the Church, in government, in business leading to all kinds of greed and corruption. Positions of service are turned into instruments of personal gain, often at the expense of the weakest and the neediest. The Church, too, can find itself in excessive concern over matters of money at the expense of its pastoral mission. A Church and its institutions that are rich in a world of poverty and need is a stumbling block to the authentic preaching of the Gospel.

Video available on Youtube: Woe to you…