Monday, August 28, 2017 21st Week in Ordinary TimeFirst Reading:
1 Thes 1:1-5, 8-10
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)
The residents of a tribal village complained about a loud-crowing rooster disturbing their sleep. In response, the chieftain had a law passed putting the rooster to death. The villagers thought they’d finally be relieved. They were wrong. All night long all the roosters in the village began to outdo one another in crowing.
It turned out that when the king of all roosters was still alive, all others toned down their crowing. But when it died, every rooster was its own king. The law passed by the chieftain intended to relieve the residents of minor disturbance at nighttime became the law that deprived them of a peaceful all-night sleep.
We have many laws crafted with the best of intentions. More can be said about the Church where the spirit of love animates all laws. But because of non-judicious implementation, some of these produce not the good intended but harm to people. Consider the law in some parishes not to administer the sacraments to parishioners unless they are members of Basic Ecclesial Communities. The intention is to make all parishioners members of BEC, but its non-judicious implementation drives people farther away from the church. Whoever is responsible for this merits a condemnation similar to that which Jesus gave to the Pharisees in today’s Gospel reading.
“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant–not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3:6). – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM
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