SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

READINGS AT MASS

Sirach 15:15-20

Psalm 119

1 Cor. 2:6-10

Mt. 5:17-37

Theme: THE RIGHTEOUS PHARISEES

Dear friends in Christ, N'wokafu YESU KRISTO...

As Jesus was contrasting the righteousness of the Kingdom of God with the traditional interpretation of the Law, He made a statement that probably shocked all His listeners. Jesus said, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The Scribes and the Pharisees were the most religious people of Jesus' time. They were prayerful, devoted, and spiritual. They had a deep reverence for the name of God such that they will never mention the proper name of God in an ordinary conversation. And they were meticulous in tithing. Despite their faithfulness to the Mosaic Law, Jesus likened them to whitewashed tombs. 

Indeed, like whitewashed tombs, everything about the Pharisees was about the external. Their external appearance did not correspond to their internal disposition and spirit. Their words did not match their actions. They were merely surface acts of faith for personal glory. The Pharisees lacked authentic internal righteousness. They lacked the righteousness that comes from a deep faith in God and transforms the entire person.

Beloved, righteousness comes by faith in Christ. As we progress on our journey as Christians, we must strive to correspond our interior life with what we profess externally. Our every act of faith must be taken with genuine and the purest of intentions. 

In the final analysis, it is not about how holy and devout we appear before men but how God sees us from the inside.

PRAYER

Almighty ever-living God, may we learn to interiorize the demands of the Law and faith for true righteousness. Amen. 

May God bless you.

-Rev. Fr. Kenneth Debre

Sunday, February 12, 2023.

Holy Rosary Parish, Hohoe