THE WORD OF GOD
IS LIVING AND EFFECTIVE
IS LIVING AND EFFECTIVE
Jesus criticizes
religious observances that have become a façade, hiding a crumbling Faith that
neglects our call to be people of wise judgment in the ways of God, all built
on His own mercy and faithfulness.
In
the second of his Four Quartets, T.S. Eliot stated that "Houses live and
die." When their roof and foundation are not solid, they are likely to die
from the inside first. In today's Gospel, Jesus reminds us of the importance of
the foundational aspects of our Faith: judgment, mercy and faithfulness. If our
Faith is not built on the foundation of faithfulness and mercy toward our
heavenly Father and on our ability to discern and judge what is right and true
- deep interior dimensions of the heart - then it doesn't matter how many masks
we wear in our lives, our Faith will die from inside.
Reflect
upon what Jesus said to the religious leaders in today's Scriptures. He
criticizes religious observances that have become a façade, hiding a crumbling
Faith that neglects our call to be people of wise judgment in the ways of God,
all built on His own mercy and faithfulness. In our Responsorial Psalm we
acclaim, "The Lord comes to judge the earth. He shall rule the world with
justice and the peoples with His constancy" (Ps 96:13b). We need the kind
of authority that will lead us in the direction of integrity and unity. Pope
Clement of Rome wrote a prayer pertaining to authority: "Grant to them,
Lord, health, peace, concord, and stability, so that they may exercise without
offense the sovereignty that You have given them."
The
Word of God is living and effective; able to discern reflections and thoughts
of the heart. Pope Francis stated, "We all need to be committed to
defending human dignity, in building a peaceful coexistence between peoples and
in safeguarding and caring for creation. We Christians bring peace and grace as
a treasure to be offered to the world, but these gifts can bear fruit only when
Christians live and work together in harmony."
Let
us discern God's Word!