Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 28, 2019
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!”
This passage is worth rereading, if only for the shocking vigor of Jesus’ condemnations. How harsh of Jesus—how angry! He has no patience for the scribes and Pharisees here. What have they done to deserve this treatment?
At this point in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has spent three years publicly ministering in and around Jerusalem. He’s seen the good, the bad, and the ugly, which includes numerous recorded interactions with Jerusalem’s social, intellectual, and religious elites, such as the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus really isn’t mincing words here. He wants to make something crystal clear before his impending death. As John’s Gospel puts it well, “the hour is coming and has now come” to follow Jesus or not (Jn. 5:25). There is an urgency here; Jesus demands decisive action. It really is life or death: be a sheep (a follower), choosing eternal life, or be a goat (a non-follower), choosing eternal punishment (Mt. 25:32-46).
A young Augustine, who the church commemorates today, needed this sort of straight talk from the apostle Paul (Romans 13:13-14) as a wake-up call from promiscuity sixteen centuries ago. We’ve all received tough love from a friend or family member at some point; how badly we need it sometimes!
At the end of his ministry, Jesus here speaks to religious leaders who lord their authority over others and “murder the prophets,” appearing righteous while inwardly being “full of dead [people’s] bones and every kind of filth.” His message is a good opportunity for us all to examine the extent to which we are fully utilizing our gifts and power to care for the least among us and to help others experience God’s joy.
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
Among the thinkers and writers who have articulated the Christian faith, St. Augustine is a giant.
He was born in 354 in north Africa, and at 17 went to Carthage to study rhetoric. He excelled at school out of vanity and ambition, but was consumed by the pleasures of the world. He entered into a relationship with a woman there, who bore him a son.
His mother, Monica, whose feast day was yesterday, prayed without ceasing for his conversion and reform. He began to find disillusionment in his studies and worldview and sought teaching positions elsewhere, ending up in Milan. There he came to know the bishop, Ambrose, who was well-educated and eloquent. Augustine attended Ambrose’s sermons out of pure curiosity, but the preaching began to leave a mark on his heart and mind.
At the same time that he began to see truth in Christiantiy, he was intimidated by the difficulty of living a Christian life and did not have the will to convert from the pleasures of his loose living. His famous conversion experience, detailed in his work, Confessions, happened when he was filled with shame after talking with friends about the heroism of saints. He had a sudden urge to seek guidance from the Bible. Reading Paul’s encouragement to put aside drunkenness and to put on Christ, Augustine was surrounded by peace and his anxiety and hesitation disappeared. He told his mother immediately, who rejoiced and praised God; he was baptized soon after.
Augustine grew in his faith and was eventually named bishop. His contributions to religious life and the advancement of spirituality and theology cannot be overstated. His works still form the bedrock of much of theological study. He died on this date in 430 amid the political and social turmoil of the fall of the Roman empire.
Part of the human condition is the struggle to direct our will towards ultimate goodness. The good things of this world—the pleasures of the body such as good food and drink—are certainly of God, but they are limited goods. If they take a central place in one’s life, they can become a distraction, as Augustine experienced, because they replace God for us instead of pointing us to God.
Augustine finally mastered his own will after years of letting it run free among the world’s pleasures. May we find the same order in our lives and receive the same grace, that we might also love the ultimate and lasting good, God, with all of our hearts.
St. Augustine is named a doctor of the Church, a title given to 37 saints who are known for elucidating the faith by their words or example; he is known as the Doctor of Grace for his understanding and cooperation with God’s grace. St. Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers, and theologians.
Relics of St. Augustine rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. In the top image, St. Augustine appears in a statue above the southeast entrance to Dillon hall. He holds a quill, to signify his foundational writing, and a heart, which represents the subject of much of his thought—the nature of love. He is also depicted in the Basilica in several places, as well as in this stained glass image from the chapel in the Eck Hall of Law.
St. Augustine, you explored the depths of human and divine love—pray for us!
To learn even more about Saint Augustine, watch this video lecture from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.