“Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?” (Lk 11:40)
FIRST READING: GAL 5:1-6
A reading from the Letter to the Galatians
Brothers and sisters:
For freedom Christ set us free;
so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
It is I, Paul, who am telling you
that if you have yourselves circumcised,
Christ will be of no benefit to you.
Once again I declare to every man who has himself circumcised
that he is bound to observe the entire law.
You are separated from Christ,
you who are trying to be justified by law;
you have fallen from grace.
For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness.
For in Christ Jesus,
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything,
but only faith working through love.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY: LK 11:37-41
From the Gospel according to Luke
After Jesus had spoken,
a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.
He entered and reclined at table to eat.
The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!
Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,
inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
You fools!
Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME-Gospel (Lk 11:37-41)
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear People of God,
In today's Gospel, God calls on everyone to live truthfully from our heart; do not live falsely or hypocritically, because hypocrisy does not come from God.
God is the way, the truth, and the life.
He always wants humanity in today's world to live true to our hearts from the inside out.
Because He is the Creator of human beings, He knows every person's thoughts, words, actions, and deeds. Therefore, He calls on everyone not to live hypocritically before God; because in the afterlife, He will judge according to our formality or hypocritical way of living.
Because God's love and mercy have always been for humanity, when He saw that people today are living hypocritically, living two-faced lives, being two-heartedly toward one another, He did not want mankind to fall into Satan's traps.
He calls on humanity to not live like the hypocritical Pharisees: on the outside, they appear beautiful, clean, and elegant; but on the inside, they are full of filth, impurity, and sin.
Through the image of the hypocritical Pharisee who blamed Jesus when he saw that Jesus did not keep the law of washing hands before meals, God wanted to call on everyone to:
-Be true to ourselves from the inside out. Keep our souls clean and pure before God at all times.
-Do not live in filthy, impure, and sin any longer; for no one can deceive God, and no one can hide from Him by our formality actions.
God knows everything from the heart of each person.
As a result, the Word of God warns us once again today:
-To be true to ourselves, to be true to God,
and to be true to our brothers and sisters.
-Do not let Satan take advantage of us by tempting us to live hypocritical lives on outward appearances so that they can take the opportunity to steal our souls.
God always loves every human soul, so He wants to warn and call on everyone to listen to and put into practice the words of God, cleanse our souls to live pleasing to God, and please Him in every moment of life in today's world.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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