The spirit of the law

Monday, August 22, 2016
21st Week in Ordinary Time
First Reading:
2 Thes 1: 1-5. 11-12
Gospel Reading:
Mt. 23:13-22
Jesus said, “Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow others to do so.
“Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel by sea and land to win a single convert, yet once he is converted, you turn him twice as fit for hell as yourselves.
“Woe to you, blind guides! You say: To swear by the Temple is not binding, but to swear by the treasure of the Temple is. Blind fools! Which is of more worth? The gold in the Temple or the Temple which makes the gold a sacred treasure? You say: To swear by the altar is not binding, but to swear by the offering on the altar is. How blind you are! Which is of more value: the offering on the altar or the altar which makes the offering sacred? Whoever swears by the altar is swearing by the altar and by everything on it. Whoever swears by the Temple is swearing by it and by God who dwells in the Temple. Whoever swears by heaven is swearing by the throne of God and by him who is seated on it.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Residents of a remote town lodge a complaint over a rooster that crows all night. They too have roosters at home but they aren’t as noisy. The municipal council passes a resolution urging the owner to put the noisy rooster to death. The owner complies. But there is one thing the residents do not know about roosters. One noisy rooster can be the king of roosters in a community. When it crows all the other roosters “listen”. Now that the king of all roosters is dead, all other roosters outdo one another in making noise to win the position. The action of the municipal council makes the nights more unbearable to residents.
Without prudence decision makers can make the lives of people miserable. This can happen in the Church. Some priests, for example, deny the sacraments to parishioners who do not belong to any BEC cell. This decision drives people away from the Church. The harsh words Jesus used in today’s Gospel indicate how he wanted his flock treated. He said: “Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel by sea and land to win a single convert, yet once he is converted, you turn him twice as fit for hell as yourselves.”
Bad political leaders can be booted out in the next election. There is no such remedy for harsh priests. People are left to grumble all night like roosters. They only do more harm to themselves. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM, MMExM, MAPM, REB. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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