21st Week, Wednesday, August 25
1 Thess 2:9-13 / Matthew 23:27-32
Paul thanks God for the Thessalonians; They accepted his word as God's word.
Some time ago the New York Times News Service carried a report about Bible study groups among Wall Street executives. Describing what goes on at such meetings, the report said: “The meeting ... begins with a prayer: ‘Lord, help us apply the truths in your words to our business lives.’” A passage from Scripture
is then read and prayerfully discussed. Commenting on the meetings, one executive said, “If I couldn’t come here, I don’t know what I would do!” People today still receive the Bible as God’s word. And, like the Thessalonians, they experience its power at work in their lives.
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How do we experience God’s word at work in our lives? “You can understand the Bible only on your knees.” Maurice Zundel
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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.
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St Paul tells us two very important truths in this passage. The sermon is not really only human word but the word of God and secondly: this word works in us. The Bible is God's word in human words. There is no other book in the world that is still heard and read every day. And no other book is as effective as the Bible. It still changes men and mankind. All other books have passed away. It is only a listing of literature where they are still mentioned. Only Christ could say: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away". God's words are spirit and life and truth. All these other books have lost their effect on men, but the word of God still works in us. It is still "leaven" (Matthew 13,33). In the New Testament there is only one theme: Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, God himself has spoken and continues to speak to us. God never speak to our congregation directly. He does it through the gospels, the letters and the other parts of the Bible. God speaks through men, if only they want to give to us the word of God.
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Child development refers to the changes that occur as a child grows and develops in relation to being physically healthy, mentally alert, emotionally sound, socially competent and ready to learn. The first five years of a child's life are fundamentally important. They are the foundation that shapes children's future health, happiness, growth, development and learning achievement at school, in the family and community, and in life in general. Children learn more quickly during their early years than at any other time in life. They need love and nurturing to develop a sense of trust and security that turns into confidence as they grow.
St. Paul truly understood this. That is why he said in the 1st reading to the Thessalonians: You can remember how we treated every one of you as a father treats his children, teaching you what is right, encouraging you and appealing to you to live a life worthy of God, who is calling you to share the glory of His kingdom.
As new Christians, St. Paul knew how important it was to form them as Christian disciples, so that they in turn will form the Christians coming after them.
In the gospel, Jesus had sharp words for the scribes and Pharisees who said that they would never have joined in shedding the blood of the prophets had they lived in their fathers' day. Jesus pointed out that they were the very sons of those who killed the prophets. And so, what they had seen and learnt, they will continue in their day, because that was their formation.
That brings us to think about how we are living out and witnessing our faith to our young and to the next generation of Catholics. We must be aware that our young children and the new Catholics (adults who went through RCIA) are looking at us and learning from us. May we teach them what is right, and encourage them to live a life worthy of God so that as Catholics we will truly be able to form the world in the ways of God.
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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.
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It is the surest sign of wisdom to be able to distinguish what is right and what is wrong, when the two exist together. For instance, window dressing is right when it is meant to make the house more beautiful with flowers, colorful paints and a curtain. To make it look good is an act of charity. But when it is only a means to hide what is rotten inside, it is wrong. To use religion only6 as a facade, to give what is rotten a deceptive appearance, that is hypocrisy. The scribes and Pharisees do exactly this and even more. They erect monuments and preach about the prophets. Yet by the words of these very prophets, they stand condemned. It is they who murdered the prophets then and they are ready and on the point of murdering the prophet God has sent: Jesus. All this they do in the name of religion.
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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. Amen
