Daily Mass Reflections - 8/25
“To have much faith requires practice.” ~ J.R. Rim
In today’s Gospel (Matthew 23:1–12) Jesus is essentially imploring us to practice what we preach, once again using the Pharisees and their hypocritical ways as an example of precisely what not to do.
Oftentimes throughout Scripture, today’s 1st Reading (Ezekiel 43:1-7) included, we are reminded of God’s profound and abundant generosity towards his people, this regardless of the number of times we abandon him. The Israelites rebelled against God repeatedly, and long before the Exodus I might add, yet God always remains true to himself in offering forgiveness. He knows no other way.
“....this is where my throne shall be, this is
where I will set the soles of my feet; here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever” is God’s promise, the same promise he offers each one of us by way of eternal life in his Kingdom.
Salvation is of course a gift, one which we can never repay God for. We can however choose our response to this gift. Sacred scripture provides us with the road map. Today’s Gospel and its lesson, the need to remove all elements of hypocrisy from the fiber of our being while supplanting it with a gentle humility, is but one of the many steps on the journey to a life rooted in Christ, one which culminates in eternal glory.
