"You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth." (Mt 23:27)
READING OF THE DAY
A reading from the Second Letter to the Thessalonians
2 THES 3:6-10, 16-18
We instruct you, brothers and sisters,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to shun any brother
who walks in a disorderly way
and not according to the tradition they received from us.
For you know how one must imitate us.
For we did not act in a disorderly way among you,
nor did we eat food received free from anyone.
On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked,
so as not to burden any of you.
Not that we do not have the right.
Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you,
so that you might imitate us.
In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that
if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.
May the Lord of peace himself
give you peace at all times and in every way.
The Lord be with all of you.
This greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s.
This is the sign in every letter; this is how I write.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew
MT 23:27-32
Jesus said,
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,
but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.
Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,
but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You build the tombs of the prophets
and adorn the memorials of the righteous,
and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’
Thus you bear witness against yourselves
that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;
now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”
WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - MT 23:27-32
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
The Word of God for Everyone
Dear People of God,
In today's Word of God, God the Father calls on all of His children to live sincerely with Him and with their brothers and sisters.
What does it mean to live sincerely? It means to live by what God the Father teaches from the heart and from the outside. How to think? How to act? How the heart loves? The soul and the body must be in harmony and become one; otherwise, they will become out of sync with each other.
God the Father calls all of His children:
- Look up to Jesus Christ who was pierced. He did not just preach theoretically, but He practiced it through His own life: through His sacrifice, His love, exchanging love with people. The action of the death of the only Son of the Supreme God demonstrates His sacrifice. This is the brightest example on earth, in which God calls upon God's children to look up to the sacrifice and loving person of Jesus Christ.
- God instructs His children to be alert to the temptations of Satan. Satan is the enemy of God, so they will find every way to snatch souls away from the love and mercy of the Supreme God. God the Father does not want to lose any soul.
Today's Word of God warns people:
- to live righteously in your thoughts, words, actions, and deeds. Do not live a life of hypocrisy, deceit, or deception, for these things do not please God the Father, but only please Satan.
- Whoever has heard the Word of God today must sacrifice to listen to the Word of God and put it into practice: change your life, abandon Satan's sinful path, live a new person: love from the inside out; and do not be like the hypocritical scribes of old.
- If anyone has fallen into sin and displeased God the Father through that hypocritical way of life, then ask for the strength of God as well as of the Blessed Virgin Mary herself, and courageously stand up to return to the love and mercy of God the Father, then surely Satan will have to withdraw from that person.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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