Sunday, November 3, 2002
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Mal 1:14-2:2, 8-10
Cursed be the cheater who, after promising me a bull from his herd, sacrifices a stunted animal. I am a great King and my Name is respected through all the nations, says Yahweh of hosts.
This warning is also for you, priests. If you do not listen to it or concern yourself to glorify my Name, says Yahweh of hosts, I will send the curse on you and curse even your blessings.
But you, says Yahweh of hosts, have strayed from my way, and more- over caused many to stumble because of your teaching. You have broken my covenant with Levi. Therefore I let all the people despise you and consider you unworthy, because you do not follow my ways and you show partiality in your judgments.
Do we not all have the same father? Has the same God not created all of us? Why, then, does each of us betray his brother, defiling the Covenant of our ancestors?
2nd Reading: 1 Thes 2:7-9, 13
Brothers and sisters, we were gentle with you, as a nursing mother who feeds and cuddles her baby. And so great is our concern that we are ready to give you, as well as the Gospel, even our very lives, for you have become very dear to us.
Remember our labor and toil; when we preached the Gospel, we worked day and night so as not to be a burden to you.
This is why we never cease giving thanks to God for, on receiving our message, you accepted it, not as human teaching, but as the word of God. That is what it really is, and as such it is at work in you who believe.
Gospel:
Mt 23:1-12
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees sat on the seat of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say, but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even raise a finger to move them. They do everything in order to be seen by people; so they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first place at feasts and reserved seats in the synagogues, and being greeted in the marketplace and being called 'Master' by the people.
But you, do not let yourselves be called Master because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father, he who is in heaven. Nor should you be called leader, because Christ is the only leader for you. Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great."
Commentary
It is difficult to avoid thinking about our church after reading today's Gospel. It is easy to change the text and place priests, religious and bishops where the Gospel says scribes and pharisees. But Jesus' criticism would still be valid. Not certainly in all cases but in many. The temptation of religious professionals will always be to become owners and lords of the community and, in some measure, to get some benefits from it. It was then, it is now and it will always be. A Christian community ought to be vigilant to help its pastors overcome that temptation - praying and denouncing the abuses in a prophetic way.