LECTIONARY READINGS
First reading: Malachi 1:14 – 2:2, 8-10
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 130(131)
Second reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:7-9, 13
Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12
Link to readings
INTRODUCTION
In our readings today, we hear how easy it is for human pride and laxity to diminish or even falsify God’s message. Instead, let us follow the invitation to honour God in humility, sincerity and truth. In the First Reading, the prophet Malachi does not mince his words. His message is hard-hitting: the priests are reproached for their spiritual negligence and failure to instruct the people properly, as well as for their half-hearted service of God.
Religious leaders are also criticised in the Gospel. Jesus castigates their hypocrisy: they are more concerned with drawing attention to themselves and exploiting their social position, rather than committing themselves to the message they preach. This type of self-aggrandisement and pride is the exact opposite of what the followers of Jesus should aspire to. Jesus himself is our role model: he teaches us that the route to leadership is through service of God in all things.
In contrast, the Second Reading presents Paul as a truly devoted pastor: enthusiastic, hard-working, full of love for his people; endlessly sharing the living word of God with this community. To follow Christ is to serve him humbly; and humility, together with complete trust in God, is the theme of today’s Psalm.
Let us pray this week: Lord God, you are both Father and Mother to us. We beg you: help us to be sincere and joyful in our practice of faith and prayer; to serve you in our daily lives; and to be even more alert and awake to your presence in nature all around us.
PSALM 130 (131)
R/. Keep my soul in peace before you, O Lord
O Lord, my heart is not proud,
nor haughty my eyes.
I have not gone after things too great
nor marvels beyond me.
Truly I have set my soul
in silence and peace.
A weaned child on its mother’s breast,
even so is my soul.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
both now and for ever.
REFLECTION
Once I am settled in my prayer space, I still myself as best I can. Although I may find it hard to put aside the noise and busyness of my mind today, I can relax my body by breathing deeply and slowly. With each breath, I may repeat a short phrase such as ‘My soul rests in you, O Lord’. I try to allow a childlike trust in God to arise within me.
Once I am ready, I read this beautiful, gentle psalm aloud a number of times. I notice when my heart and mind resonate with certain words or phrases. I linger, savour them, and ponder . . . Can I, like the psalmist, acknowledge and freely accept my own limitations and smallness, as a deeply beloved child?
Can I entrust myself in peaceful surrender to my loving Father? Knowing I cannot achieve this on my own, I pray with sincerity for the grace of humility, and for spiritual and psychological freedom. The psalmist speaks of a contemplative prayer practice that seeks silence and peace within the soul, as a child clinging to its mother. I ask the Holy Spirit to aid my relationship with God in this way.
Perhaps I ask God to strengthen my commitment to sitting regularly in silence, or to walking in nature. I pray that my attention and gaze may be turned each day towards the Holy Mystery of God, in whatever way is possible. Glory be . . .
GOSPEL
Matthew 23: 1–12
Addressing the people and his disciples Jesus said, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they! Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels, like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats at the synagogues, being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi.
‘You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one Master, and you are all brothers and sisters. You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts themself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles themself will be exalted.’
REFLECTION
As I settle into my place of prayer, I ask God to bless me: to give me the grace to slow down and be attentive. I pray not to be distracted by any of my cares or ‘idols’, whether external or internal. Like the psalmist, I pray to ‘set my soul in silence and peace’ before my Lord.
Once I am ready, I read Jesus’s passionate address a couple of times. I hear his attack on religious hypocrisy, and his countercultural teaching on what it means to be his follower.
I notice where I am drawn. Is there anything that troubles or disturbs me about Jesus’ guidance? I reflect and pray . . . Perhaps I yearn for greater spiritual freedom and peace, and seek a more humble, Christ-centred way of life? Or maybe I notice some resistance to this, or temptation? Whatever arises, I surrender with trust and hope to God, my loving Father and Mother.
From the depths of my being, I pray with longing for the grace of a humble, open heart and mind. I may like to end my time of prayer by repeating the response to the psalm: ‘Keep my soul in peace before you, O Lord.’
Courtesy of St Beuno’s Outreach, the Diocese of Wrexham, UK