Monday of Week 21 of Ordinary Time – Gospel
Commentary on Matthew 23:13-22
We continue with the attack of Jesus on the mentality of the scribes and Pharisees. Keep in mind (as we mentioned last Saturday) that first, we are dealing more with a state of mind than a blanket condemnation of a whole group of people, and second, that the words are mainly to be heard as providing reflection for our own Christian communities and the way we behave.
Today and for the next two days we read of the seven ‘Woes’ that Jesus hurls against corrupt religious leaders. We have seen already how the number seven is a favourite of Matthew.
The Seven Woes are:
- …you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. (v 13)
[and] …you devour widows’ houses…(v 14). (This verse is not included in some texts.) - …you cross sea and land to make a single convert…(v 15)
- …you, blind guides who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing…’ (vv 16-22)
- …you tithe mint, dill, and cumin…(vv 23-24)
- …you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate…(vv 25-26)
- …you are like whitewashed tombs…(vv 27-28)
- …you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous…(vv 29-32)
Today we read the first three Woes.
1. …you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven…(v 13) and (not included in some texts) …you devour widows’ houses…(v 14).
Jesus accuses the leaders of closing the entrance to the Kingdom, thus preventing others from going in and not going in themselves either. On the one hand, this can be a reference to their rejection of Jesus who was himself the embodiment of the Kingdom, was preaching the Kingdom and who, by his presence, had made the Kingdom accessible to all who came to him. On the other hand, it can also mean that they made the observance of the Law impossibly difficult by their complex interpretations of what was and was not allowed.
Whether we are parents, or teachers, or priests or religious, we can also by our behaviour both block people’s access to Jesus and be far from him ourselves.
Included here is verse 14, left out of some texts, where Jesus accuses the Pharisees of saying long prayers, but not hesitating to take money (for the Temple, of course) from widows, the poorest of the poor. Considering that widows were among the most destitute and insecure of people in Jewish society, this was exploitation of the most base kind. A comparison in our own day would be with the ways in which some “televangelists” were known to extract money from poor and gullible people who should be receiving rather than giving.
2. …you cross sea and land to make a single convert…(v 15)
While the religious leaders try to prevent people from approaching Jesus, they themselves zealously go to great lengths to make even a single convert, only to make that person even worse than themselves. They do this by corrupting them with false ideas of what true religion is. They fill them with ideas about ritual purification and thus create a false sense of security about what really brings about salvation. At this time, Jewish proselytisation was very active in the Greek and Roman world. Parallels can be found in our own days among Christian groups.
3. …you, blind guides who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing’…(vv 16-22)
Here Jesus’ attack is directed at the leaders’ greed and their corruption of religion for material gain. They persuade people to swear by the gold of the Temple and make them pay. People are told not to swear by the altar, but by the gift they have put there. Which is more holy, Jesus asks, the Temple or the gold which the Temple makes holy, the altar or the gift which the altar sanctifies? Again, in the name of holiness, the Pharisee-types are exploiting the poor.
Sadly, today we also see abuse of authority and power—whether in the Church, in government, in business or other arenas—leading to all kinds of greed and corruption which undermine the very fabric of societies. Positions of service are turned into instruments of personal gain, often at the expense of the weakest and the most needy. Countries which long ago should have become rich and prosperous and provided a high quality of life for their people are bankrupt, in every sense of the word, while a small elite live lives of shameless luxury.
The Church, too, can find itself over-concerned with matters of money at the expense of its pastoral mission. A diocese, a parish, a bishop or priest who is rich while living in a world of poverty and need is a major stumbling block to the hearing of the Gospel.
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Monday of Week 21 of Ordinary Time – First Reading
Commentary on 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5,11-12
After eight weeks reading from the Old Testament prophets, today we return to the New Testament. For the next three days we will be reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Christians at Thessalonica (now Thessaloniki), a city in Macedonia, north of Greece. Today we begin the first of three readings from the Second Letter to the Thessalonians.
Although this letter is usually ascribed to Paul, there are serious doubts about his being its real author, or that it was actually directed to the Christians of Thessalonica. Nevertheless, it has always been a part of the recognised canon, and we can read it with confidence as speaking God’s word to us.
The letter opens traditionally with the names of its claimed authors: Paul, with two of his helpers, Silvanus and Timothy, and its addressee, the “church of the Thessalonians” (i.e. the Christian community). There follows a Christian prayer of grace, peace and thanksgiving to God the Father and the Lord Jesus. The writers are full of gratitude to God because of the marvellous growth of faith and mutual love among the Thessalonian Christians, even though they are aware of some shortcomings also.
The Thessalonians are congratulated for standing out among the churches for their perseverance in spite of the persecutions and troubles they have had to face. This was a source of special pride for Paul and the other founders of this church, and they were not ashamed to boast of it. Paul seems to imply that it was somewhat unusual for the founders of a church to boast about this, though others might do so. However, the Thessalonians were so outstanding in this regard that Paul departed from his normal practice.
It shows that God, in allowing them to go through these trials, was right. He gave them the resources they needed and they rose to the occasion and proved themselves “worthy of the kingdom of God”. He provided strength to endure, and this in turn produced spiritual and moral character. Their sufferings are precisely for the promotion of the Kingdom as they give faithful witness to Jesus and the Gospel.
The passage ends with a lovely prayer that God will “fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith” and bring to completion all that the Thessalonians have been doing through faith in Christ. God initiates every good purpose and every act prompted by faith; Paul prays accordingly that he will bring these to fulfilment, saying:
…we always pray for you… so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you…
In ancient times one’s name was often more than a personal label; it summed up what a person was. Paul is praying that the name, that is, the person of the Lord Jesus, will be given glory in them, and they in him through the love of God and the Lord Jesus poured into their hearts.
As we read this passage we may reflect on a number of questions:
- Can it be said that our faith and mutual love, individually and collectively, are constantly growing?
- How do we behave and respond when our Christian faith is challenged, attacked or rubbished? Do we stand up or do we go into hiding? Do we hit back or pray for those who attack us?
- Can we see that the trials and setbacks of life are ways by which God is challenging the depth of our faith and calling for a deeper response of love and service?