Tuesday of Week 21 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Although Paul in yesterday’s reading praised the Thessalonians for the depth of their faith whose reputation had spread far and wide, he recalls today some of the difficulties he faced at first in bringing the gospel message to the city. 

Paul had experienced such great opposition in Thessalonica that he and Silas had to be secretly escorted from the city (Acts 17:1-10).  This came on top of the humiliating experiences he had in Philippi where he and Silas were, as a result of false accusations, arrested, flogged and thrown into prison (from which they were rescued by an earthquake!). It is probably the memory of these experiences which underlies his words today recalling his selflessness in preaching the gospel to them, his affection for them, and the pleasant relationships he has with them now.

He begins by saying that they themselves know his visit to the Thessalonians has not been without effect. The local church could refute accusations of insincerity which seem to have been levelled against Paul by certain hostile elements. In spite of the terrible abuse, including imprisonment, which he and Silas endured at Philippi, God still gave them the courage to preach the gospel fearlessly to the Thessalonians, even though they met with opposition there also.

When they first arrived, Paul made some converts among the Jews and a larger number among the Greeks, but his activities aroused the anger and indignation of many Jews, who did not like Paul presenting Jesus as the Messiah.  These stirred up a riot in the city.  The result was that Jason, a supporter of Paul, and his family were seized, while Paul and his companion Silas had to be hurriedly taken away to another town.

Paul now assures the Thessalonians that his exhortations do not come from any deceit or impure motives or trickery.  The Greek word for ‘trickery’ was originally used of bait for catching fish and came to be used of any sort of cunning used for personal gain.

On the contrary, Paul and companions have God’s approval to be entrusted with the proclamation of the gospel and that is the basis of their preaching—to please God and not human beings.  For it is God who “tests our hearts”. In fact, they have never been motivated either by a desire to be flattered or for personal gain.  They have never sought any special honours either from the Thessalonians or anyone else, even though they could have insisted on their own dignity and prestige as apostles and messengers of Christ, or that materially they could have expected to have been fed and kept at the Thessalonians’ expense.  Although Paul strongly believed that those preaching the gospel had the right to be supported by the communities they visited, he himself preferred to be self-supporting.

On the contrary, he says that they live a simple life and their concern is only those they serve:

So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

At the same time, he and his co-workers are treating the Thessalonians with the greatest gentleness:

But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.

What is always so striking is how Paul can see the hand of Christ in all that happens to him and his sheer unstoppable enthusiasm in sharing the gospel message with others, whatever the obstacles.  This was because the message was not just something he was handing on; it had entered the very fibre of his being.  As he will say elsewhere:

…it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)

Would that each one of us could say the same!  We cannot be preachers of the gospel until it is fully absorbed into our very selves.  It cannot be just a set of doctrines which we hold to be true.  We need the burning enthusiasm of Paul.

Read more

Tuesday of Week 21 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 23:23-26

We continue our reading of the ‘Seven Woes’ listed in the commentary from Monday of Week 21. Today’s reading contains the fourth and fifth ‘woes’.

4. …you tithe mint, dill and cumin… (vv 23-24)

In continuing his attack on Pharisaism, Jesus touches on two issues which are certainly relevant to our Christian living today. First, he attacks the mentality of those who are sticklers for tiny details of ritual or doctrine while ignoring the fundamental issues of justice, compassion and good faith. The Mosaic Law levied a tithe on agricultural produce. Some rabbis scrupulously applied the law to the most insignificant of plants.

A strict Pharisee too would carefully filter his drinking water in case he might swallow a small insect, which would be regarded as unclean. But in being so careful of such minutiae, he might well overlook matters of much deeper importance. Jesus is not criticising a conscientious carrying out of rules and regulations, but it is the attitude of hypocritical moral superiority which he attacks.

One can meet Catholics too who tie themselves in knots trying to observe the most petty regulations and can end up becoming the prisoner of scruples. What is more, they can be highly critical of others whom they regard as ‘lax’. An example might be people who are more worried about not having observed a full 60 minutes of fast before Communion than focusing on what the wider implications of participating in the Eucharist really mean.

5. …you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate… (vv 25-26)

The second point that Jesus makes is to criticise those who concentrate on the tiniest details of external behaviour while totally ignoring the inner spirit. There are certain Christians who speak and write at length about all the things that are not being done right in the liturgy of the Catholic Church, and who claim for themselves a level of doctrinal and moral orthodoxy to which even Rome does not attain. Sometimes even the Pope does not come up to their expectations.

What is striking about these people is the almost total absence of a sense of love and compassion in their writings and actions. They are only interested in ‘truth’ and ‘orthodoxy’, as if these things could exist outside of the nitty-gritty of human living. They can be more concerned about the tiniest rubrical details of the liturgy than about the Eucharist as truly a sacrament of a loving community prayerfully centred on the Person of Christ.

On the outside, the behaviour is impeccable, but inside there is a total lack of a true gospel spirit—the spirit of love and integrity, of compassion and a sense of justice for all. Instead, there can be a heart full of self-righteousness, criticism, anger, resentment or contempt for those who do not think the same, all cloaked in this outer veneer of moral and ritual rectitude.

The two attitudes are closely related and all of us can be touched by them in one degree or another. Let him or her who has never criticised another fellow-Christian cast the first stone!

Read more