Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 27, 2019
Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.”
As a middle school teacher, I have the opportunity to teach students in the years when they are not quite children anymore but still a long way from adulthood. It is a time when their self-awareness can be severely lacking but their sense of how they are perceived by others becomes quite acute. In this stage of their social development, the opinions of their peers are usually more important to them than my science lessons.
For some of my students, this leads them to live from the outside in instead of from the inside out. By this I mean they are showing the world all sorts of behaviors and little performances hoping for a certain reaction and trying to piece together who they are based on those reactions. It’s a normal thing to go through, from what I can tell, and also the reason a middle school vice principal’s office will always stay busy. Sometimes it’s very satisfying to watch a student move beyond this stage and start to look within herself to figure out who she really is. Other times I think, “maybe he’ll grow out of it in high school?”
Then again, I wonder if we ever really grow out of this tendency. I’m not much for social media but the little that I do see seems to be mostly smiling faces and tropical vacations. This is what social media is for, I suppose, but it is similar to polishing the “outside of the cup and the plate” while neglecting the inside. We all want to be perceived positively by others and it is all too easy to conceal what is going on inside of us. In this gospel, Jesus shows us that if we want to be people of “justice and mercy and faith” we will need to look inward first. After reflecting on this gospel, I hope I can be a good example to my students by living out my inner life of faith in my outer life as their teacher.
Prayer
Lord God, your Son walked among us flawed human beings. He loved the poor, the sick, and the widowed. He delighted in little children. He sat at table with men and women who were sinners and called them to new life. Only hypocrisy raised anger in Jesus. Open our eyes and hearts to see ourselves as we are and to cast ourselves upon your mercy rather than to cover our shame with lying to ourselves and to those around us. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Monica was, above all, a stubborn mother.
She was married at a young age to an adulterous government official with a violent temper. Years of Monica’s patience and prayer converted him to Christianity just before he died. She prayed unceasingly for her children as well, especially for her brilliant but wayward son, Augustine. Priests learned to avoid her because of her persistence in asking for prayers for him.
She followed Augustine as he pursued studies in Carthage and Rome, praying at shrines and chapels the whole way. They both finally arrived at Milan, where they met St. Ambrose. It was under Ambrose’s guidance that Augustine fulfilled his potential and became one of the most brilliant writers and thinkers the Church has ever known. After 17 years of constant prayer, Monica saw her son baptized when he was 32; St. Augustine’s feast day is tomorrow.
St. Monica is the patron saint of alcoholics, victims of abuse and adultery, widows, and mothers facing family difficulties. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. Her story and image are used by high school students who come to campus for a summer conference with the Notre Dame Vision program.
St. Monica, your prayer brought your family to Christ, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Monica is an illustration by Julie Lonneman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of her art. Used with permission.