Wisdom Avoids Hypocrisy

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate our understanding about the nature of sin and act to implement Jesus' Way of love, mercy, and compassion in our relationship with our community and environment.

Choose the Way

The Reading from the Book of Sirach declares God is neither the cause nor the occasion of sin.

* [15:11–20] Here Ben Sira links freedom of the will with human responsibility. God, who sees everything, is neither the cause nor the occasion of sin. We have the power to choose our behavior and we are responsible for both the good and the evil we do (vv. 15–17).

* [15:20] Deceivers: those who hold the Lord responsible for their sins. (Sirach, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 119 delights in the law’s consolations and begs for wisdom to understand the precepts.

* [Psalm 119] This Psalm, the longest by far in the Psalter, praises God for giving such splendid laws and instruction for people to live by. The author glorifies and thanks God for the Torah, prays for protection from sinners enraged by others’ fidelity to the law, laments the cost of obedience, delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts, and asks for the rewards of keeping them…

* [119:19] A sojourner in the land: like someone without the legal protection of a native inhabitant, the psalmist has a special need for the guidance of God’s teaching. (Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians proclaims The True Wisdom.

* [2:6–3:4] Paul now asserts paradoxically what he has previously been denying. To the Greeks who “are looking for wisdom” (1 Cor 1:22), he does indeed bring a wisdom, but of a higher order and an entirely different quality, the only wisdom really worthy of the name. The Corinthians would be able to grasp Paul’s preaching as wisdom and enter into a wisdom-conversation with him if they were more open to the Spirit and receptive to the new insight and language that the Spirit teaches.

* [2:7–10a] God’s wisdom: his plan for our salvation. This was his own eternal secret that no one else could fathom, but in this new age of salvation he has graciously revealed it to us. For the pattern of God’s secret, hidden to others and now revealed to the Church, cf. also Rom 11:25–36; 16:25–27; Eph 1:3–10; 3:3–11; Col 1:25–28.

* [2:8] The rulers of this age: this suggests not only the political leaders of the Jews and Romans under whom Jesus was crucified (cf. Acts 4:25–28) but also the cosmic powers behind them (cf. Eph 1:20–23; 3:10). They would not have crucified the Lord of glory: they became the unwitting executors of God’s plan, which will paradoxically bring about their own conquest and submission (1 Cor 15:24–28). (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus’ teaching about the Law, Anger, and Adultery.

* [5:17–20] This statement of Jesus’ position concerning the Mosaic law is composed of traditional material from Matthew’s sermon documentation (see note on Mt 5:1–7:29), other Q material (cf. Mt 18; Lk 16:17), and the evangelist’s own editorial touches. To fulfill the law appears at first to mean a literal enforcement of the law in the least detail: until heaven and earth pass away nothing of the law will pass (Mt 5:18). Yet the “passing away” of heaven and earth is not necessarily the end of the world understood, as in much apocalyptic literature, as the dissolution of the existing universe. The “turning of the ages” comes with the apocalyptic event of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and those to whom this gospel is addressed are living in the new and final age, prophesied by Isaiah as the time of “new heavens and a new earth” (Is 65:17; 66:22). Meanwhile, during Jesus’ ministry when the kingdom is already breaking in, his mission remains within the framework of the law, though with significant anticipation of the age to come, as the following antitheses (Mt 5:21–48) show.

* [5:19] Probably these commandments means those of the Mosaic law. But this is an interim ethic “until heaven and earth pass away.”

* [5:21–48] Six examples of the conduct demanded of the Christian disciple. Each deals with a commandment of the law, introduced by You have heard that it was said to your ancestors or an equivalent formula, followed by Jesus’ teaching in respect to that commandment, But I say to you; thus their designation as “antitheses.” Three of them accept the Mosaic law but extend or deepen it (Mt 5:21–22; 27–28; 43–44); three reject it as a standard of conduct for the disciples (Mt 5:31–32; 33–37; 38–39). (Matthew, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Elvin Cardoso, SJ shares “When I make choices each day, am I asking only what is required of me, or am I allowing God to shape the intentions of my heart?”

St. Paul deepens this understanding by challenging our assumptions about wisdom itself. The wisdom of the world prizes strength, recognition, and control. It appears impressive, yet it fades quickly. God’s wisdom, revealed most clearly in the cross of Christ, looks entirely different. What the world sees as weakness, God uses as the path to salvation. This wisdom cannot be grasped by intelligence alone, but it requires humility, trust, and openness to the Spirit. Paul reminds us that God is always at work beyond what we can see, offering peace, meaning, and hope even amid uncertainty.

In the Gospel, Jesus leads us beyond a faith of rules into a faith of the heart. He honors the law, yet reveals its deepest meaning by drawing our attention to our inner attitudes and intentions. What truly matters is not outward compliance but the spirit from which our actions arise. By addressing anger and violence, Jesus calls us to reverence every person, every relationship, and life itself. His wisdom is relational, not controlling, inviting us freely into love shaped by purpose. (Cardoso, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “What you teach, you should do,” by Chromatius (died 406 AD).

"While it is sinful to abolish the least of the commandments, all the more so the great and most important ones. Hence the Holy Spirit affirms through Solomon: 'Whoever despises the little things shall gradually die' (Sirach 19:1b). Consequently nothing in the divine commandments must be abolished, nothing altered. Everything must be preserved and taught faithfully and devotedly that the glory of the heavenly kingdom may not be lost. Indeed, those things considered least important and small by the unfaithful or by worldly people are not small before God but necessary. For the Lord taught the commandments and did them. Even small things point to the great future of the kingdom of heaven. For this reason, not only words but also deeds are important; and you should not only teach, but what you teach, you should do." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 20.2.1-3)

[Note: Chromatius was an early Christian scholar and bishop of Aquileia, Italy. He was a close friend of John Chrysostom and Jerome. He died in 406 AD. Jerome described him as a "most learned and most holy man."] (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 comments that it's easy to reduce the gospel to a message about right living and adherence to a moral code that we have to try hard to follow. It’s easy to reduce it to a set of self-help principles that we can adopt. It’s easy to reduce it to any number of things. But once you start hearing about God’s plan “for our glory,” you know that Jesus has done something for us that we could never do ourselves. His death defeated our death. And his resurrection has opened heaven—for all of us.

Today is the perfect day to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal this glorious plan to you a little more. Read today’s second reading slowly and prayerfully. Let the words sink into your heart and fill you with hope. You were created for glory!

“Jesus, thank you for revealing your awesome hidden wisdom to me!” (Meditation on 1 Corinthians 2:6-10, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments the reading from Sirach, a Jewish scribe in 3rd century BCE, asserts Jewish wisdom is as good as Greek wisdom. The passage exhorts us to choose the path of life or the path of death, similar to the blessing and curses of a covenant. Paul asserts to the Corinthians that the Wisdom of God is not understood by the teachers of the age. The Greek philosophers in Athens had rejected Paul’s message  because of the imperfection of the physical world and body and Paul proclaimed the wisdom of the Cross as true love. The Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew, is a very Jewish Gospel, different from the Gospel of Luke which is addressed to pagans. Matthew shows how Jesus fulfills and extends the Law of Moses in contrast to the Pharisee’s scrupulosity. Jesus extends the law philosophically. Jesus speaks of Gahanna, an image for hell. There are many ways to kill the spirit of hope, reputation, and not protecting the vulnerable by the decision to do nothing. Friar Jude advises caution with sexual thoughts and our response. More important not to dwell on them. We deal with adultery, divorce and remarriage frequently in our time. Friar Jude challenges us about how we bring people to the community of Christ and cautions about oaths where we may make God an accomplice in our lies concluding with “May God bless us all”.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Carmen Acevedo Butcher who takes inspiration from the desert Christians of the fourth century. 

The desert elders have meant so much to me, and the really great thing is that even before I quite understood them, I loved their stories. My favorite story is about Abba Moses of Egypt. Somebody sent a message to him and said, “We need you to come to the elders’ gathering because there’s someone who has committed a sin, and we need you to help us make a judgment about his behavior.” He just said, “I don’t want to go.” Then, a priest sent word to him and said, “Moses, we need you here. They’re asking for you. You’ve got to come.” So reluctantly, Moses got up. He went over to the old basket he had that was full of holes, and he filled it with sand. Then, he put it on his back and walked to this meeting where someone was accused of a sin and was awaiting the judgment of the group. People came out to him and said, “Moses, what are you up to? What are you doing?” He said, “Well, here I am going to judge someone for a sin they say he has committed, and yet here my sins are running out behind me, and I don’t even see them.” [2]

The accusers just fell away. They went back to the gathering and told the man, “We don’t have anything to say to you.” It disbanded because of Moses’s humility. It’s very much like the woman accused of adultery by the men in John’s Gospel, where Jesus comes up and says, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). (Rohr, 2026)

We invoke the Spirit in our efforts to understand, implement, and live by the principles and concepts expressed in Jesus Word for fullness of life.

References

Cardoso, E. (2026, February 15). Daily Reflection February 15, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved February 15, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-february-15-2026 

Matthew, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 15, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5?17 

Meditation on 1 Corinthians 2:6-10. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved February 15, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/02/15/1499744/ 

1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 15, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/2?6 

Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 15, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119?1 

Rohr, R. (2026, February 13). A Return to the Garden — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved February 15, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-return-to-the-garden/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Great Are Those Who Teach and Obey the Commandments. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 15, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Sirach, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 15, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/15?15 

Golden Heart for Help

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to examine our desires and hunger and how they align with the mission for Christians to address the real needs of our communities.

A Heart for Love

The Reading from the First Book of Kings proclaims that Jeroboam’s Cultic Innovations lead to Divine Disapproval.

* [12:26–31] At the center of the story of Jeroboam the narrator describes how the king went beyond the political separation of Israel from Judah to create a separatist religious system as well. Jeroboam feared that continued worship in the single Temple in Jerusalem would threaten the political independence of his kingdom. To prevent this he established sanctuaries with non-levitical clergy in his own territory. At two of the sanctuaries he set up golden calves, which the narrator depicts as idols. Thus begins what will later be called “the sin of Jeroboam” (13:34), a theme that will be echoed throughout 1–2 Kings in the condemnations of almost every king of the Northern Kingdom. Historically, Jeroboam’s innovations were not as heterodox as our narrative portrays them. Bethel was an ancient and traditional site for worship of the Lord; and the calves were probably intended to be a dais for the deity invisibly enthroned upon them, rather like the cherubim atop the ark of the covenant. (1 Kings, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)

* [13:11–34] The next major unit illustrates how Jeroboam’s cultic innovations begin to alienate prophetic figures of the two kingdoms. Nevertheless, the Lord’s word is stronger than any human attempt to thwart it. The two prophets also foreshadow the destinies of their respective kingdoms. Israel’s experiment with idolatry can tempt Judah to abandon its faithfulness to the Lord. If Judah succumbs, and no longer speaks the word that can call Israel back to the true God, then the only hope for reuniting the two kingdoms will be when they have both died the death of exile. (1 Kings, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 106 recites from Israel’s history eight instances of sin, judgment, and forgiveness including the golden calf episode (Ps 106:19–23; see Ex 32–34).

* [Psalm 106] Israel is invited to praise the God whose mercy has always tempered judgment of Israel (Ps 106:1–3). The speaker, on behalf of all, seeks solidarity with the people, who can always count on God’s fidelity despite their sin (Ps 106:4–5). Confident of God’s mercy, the speaker invites national repentance (Ps 106:6) by reciting from Israel’s history eight instances of sin, judgment, and forgiveness. The sins are the rebellion at the Red Sea (Ps 106:6–12; see Ex 14–15), the craving for meat in the desert (Ps 106:13–15; see Nm 11), the challenge to Moses’ authority (Ps 106:16–18; see Nm 16), the golden calf episode (Ps 106:19–23; see Ex 32–34), …

* [106:20] Their glory: meant as a reference to God. (Psalms, PSALM 106 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus presents The Feeding of the Four Thousand.

* [8:1–10] The two accounts of the multiplication of loaves and fishes (Mk 8:1–10; 6:31–44) have eucharistic significance. Their similarity of structure and themes but dissimilarity of detail are considered by many to refer to a single event that, however, developed in two distinct traditions, one Jewish Christian and the other Gentile Christian, since Jesus in Mark’s presentation (Mk 7:24–37) has extended his saving mission to the Gentiles.

* [8:6] See note on Mk 6:41. (Mark, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB, n.d.)

Barbara Dilly asks how often do evil people strategize to replace our loyalty to our values and beliefs with meaningless and harmful substitutes that serve only their aims? We must ask ourselves, when have we followed the hollow promises of those who offer us material gains and a shallow sense of security at the cost of our spiritual well-being?

The Gospel message speaks clearly to me today. “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Yes, Jesus did provide bread and fish to meet the material needs of the hungry crowd, but the manner in which he did so, with compassion and care, met their spiritual needs as well. These people had followed Jesus for days without food, hanging on every word that came out of his mouth. He fed them not only food, but hope. As I reflect on the troubled times of our nation and the world, I am drawn to not only the words but the works of Jesus. People need to have their daily bread. We most certainly should be about that. But they also need caring, compassion, hope, and respect. And we absolutely need to be about that at the same time. No one needs golden images to worship instead of the living God who will help us meet the material and spiritual needs of the world. I pray that we can clearly tell the difference. (Dilly, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Breaking the bread of God's Word,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"In expounding to you the Holy Scriptures, I as it were break bread for you. If you hunger to receive it, your heart will sing out with the fullness of praise (Psalm 138:1). If you are thus made rich in your banquet, be not meager in good works and deeds. What I am distributing to you is not my own. What you eat, I eat; what you live upon, I live upon. We have in heaven a common store-house - from it comes the Word of God." (excerpt from SERMONS ON NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 45.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 8:1-10 comments that this crowd—most of whom do not even belong to his own Jewish people—traveled to a desolate place to hear him and spent three entire days listening to him. Their openness to him touched Jesus deeply, and he responded to their faithfulness. By multiplying bread and fish for them, he was showing that his message would also multiply beyond the Jewish community to reach everyone. He was showing that he cared for all people, even Gentiles, who were considered outside of God’s covenant love.

This is so important it bears repeating. It doesn’t matter what part of the world we’re from. It doesn’t matter how strong or weak we feel our faith is. Neither does it matter if someone is our closest friend or our worst enemy. Jesus’ heart “is moved” with compassion for every person (Mark 8:2). He wants to pour his love on everyone.

“Jesus, thank you for loving each of us so deeply! Teach me to love as you do!” (Meditation on Mark 8:1-10, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that in the division of the kingdom, the king of the north was established and Jeroboam worried the people would continue to journey to Jerusalem so two he established shrines at Dan and Bethel. There were many shrines in Israel at that time. But the two calves of gold resonated with the pagan people around who worshiped an oxen image. Scholars comment that the golden calves were not a craven image but a platform where God could appear. It was perhaps a symbol that could be misunderstood in the henotheism of the land.  Friar Jude comments that, in the Gospel of Mark, the multiplication of the loaves for the pagan people results in seven loaves left over, the perfect number, to feed the world and satisfy the deepest hunger of our heart.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces author and poet Mary Jo Leddy who offers this poem, reminding us that God is our point of origin for all creation.

You are the Point
of all Being.
Every tree stretches
up to You.
Each plant reaches
down to You.
All the roads go
on to You.
The many waters run
toward the vastness
of Your love.
The air breathes
in and unto You.
Every heart wants
to turn to You.
How unhappy we are
when we miss
the Point of all Being.
How blessed are we
when we follow our longing
and leaning into
Your direction.

Reference:
Mary Jo Leddy, Radical Gratitude (Orbis Books, 2002), 104. Used with permission. (Rohr, n.d.)

We contemplate the mission of Jesus to bring all people to receive the nourishment of His Word and seek the help of the Spirit to transform our attitudes and actions to be workers in His vineyard.

References

Dilly, B. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-february-14-2026 

Mark, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/8?1 

Meditation on Mark 8:1-10. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/02/14/1499247/ 

1 Kings, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1kings/12?26 

1 Kings, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1kings/13 

Psalms, PSALM 106 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/106? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). After the Fall: Weekly Summary. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/after-the-fall-weekly-summary/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Jesus Alone Can Satisfy Our Hunger for God. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/