The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to attend to the prompting of the Spirit to go deeper in our contemplation and action in living as followers of Christ.
The reading from the Second Letter to the Thessalonians identifies the man of lawlessness.
* [2:1–17] The Thessalonians have been shaken by a message purporting to come from Paul himself that the day of the Lord is already present. He warns against this deception in eschatology by citing a scenario of events that must first occur (2 Thes 2:3–12) before the end will come. The overall point Paul makes is the need to reject such lies as Satan sends; he also reaffirms the Thessalonians in their calling (2 Thes 2:13–14). (2 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)
Psalm 96 praises God who comes in Judgement.
* [Psalm 96] A hymn inviting all humanity to praise the glories of Israel’s God (Ps 96:1–3), who is the sole God (Ps 96:4–6). To the just ruler of all belongs worship (Ps 96:7–10); even inanimate creation is to offer praise (Ps 96:11–13). This Psalm has numerous verbal and thematic contacts with Is 40–55, as does Ps 98. Another version of the Psalm is 1 Chr 16:23–33. (Psalms, PSALM 96, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus continues denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites.
* [23:23] The Mosaic law ordered tithing of the produce of the land (Lv 27:30; Dt 14:22–23), and the scribal tradition is said here to have extended this law to even the smallest herbs. The practice is criticized not in itself but because it shows the Pharisees’ preoccupation with matters of less importance while they neglect the weightier things of the law.
* [23:24] Cf. Lv 11:41–45 that forbids the eating of any “swarming creature.” The Pharisees’ scrupulosity about minor matters and neglect of greater ones (Mt 23:23) is further brought out by this contrast between straining liquids that might contain a tiny “swarming creature” and yet swallowing the camel. The latter was one of the unclean animals forbidden by the law (Lv 11:4), but it is hardly possible that the scribes and Pharisees are being denounced as guilty of so gross a violation of the food laws. To swallow the camel is only a hyperbolic way of speaking of their neglect of what is important. (Matthew, CHAPTER 23, n.d.)
Eileen Wirth comments that In today’s gospel, Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites on making a show of practicing their religion while neglecting the important fundamentals. It’s a trap lots of people fall into because specific rules make it easy to say what’s good and what’s bad. Such people want to be sure what they are doing is good, not debate moral theology, especially as things change.
I’ve heard people say they dropped out of church because most church goers are hypocrites. They actually mean that we are sinners. Yes!
I go to church precisely because I need the connection with other imperfect but striving people as well as homilies that suggest how to do better in the week ahead. Does that make us hypocrites or just the sinners Jesus came to save?
With that in mind, I’m going to focus on Jesus’ admonition to stress “the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity,” especially mercy. I’m going to try to do at least one merciful thing that I otherwise would not have done and I’ll TRY to make my actions more consistent with my beliefs to avoid hypocrisy. (Wirth, 2022)
Don Schwager quotes “Neglecting Weighty Matters of Love and Justice,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).
"Not only among the Jews but among ourselves as well, we find people sinning in these ways. They are swallowing camels. People of this type frequently show off their religion even in the smallest of things. They are rightly called hypocrites for wanting to exploit their religiosity before men but being unwilling to undertake that very faith which God himself has justified. Therefore the imitators of the scribes and Pharisees must be dislodged and sent away from us, lest a woe touches us in the same way it touches them. The scribes could be described as those who valued nothing found in the Scriptures except its plain sense interpreted legalistically. Meanwhile they condemn those who look into the very depths of God himself. Mint and dill and cummin are only spices for food but are not themselves substantial food. What substantive food would mean in conversion would be that which is necessary for the justification of our souls - faith and love - unlike these legalisms, which are more like condiments and flavorings. It is as if a meal might be thought to consist more of condiments and flavorings than the food itself. The seriousness of judgment is neglected while great attention is given to minor matters. Spiritual exercises which in and of themselves are hardly justice are spoken of as justice and compassion and faith. It is lacking in justice to treat these small parts as the whole. When we do not offer to God the observance of all that is necessary for worship, we fail altogether." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 19-20) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17 comments that fear and confusion swirl around us. People ridicule faith and stoke fear with stories that make evil seem greater than God. But rather than being shaken, we can keep our eyes on God, our focal point.
Go back to these truths each time fearful or doubtful thoughts start swirling in your mind. You can try this today by taking regular breaks and—literally—turning your eyes to the Lord! Look up from your work or studies and fix your attention on a crucifix on the wall, on your computer screen, or on a holy card or a rosary. As you gaze on Jesus on the cross, let him remind you how much he loves you, how he has called you to be his child, how his unchanging presence is your comfort and security.
Keep practicing this, and over time you’ll develop the habit of turning to the Lord when confusion or anxiety arises. And the result will be balance and confidence—just like a ballet dancer.
“Lord God, be my focal point today.” (Meditation on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the message of the author of 2 Thessalonians on condemning prophets who make false eschatolocical claims. The excessive scrupulosity of the Scribes and Pharisees resulted in ignoring mercy and fidelity. Friar Jude reminds us of the message of Micah 6:8 about justice, kindness, and humility.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces writer and educator Cole Arthur Riley who describes contemplation’s integral connection to action that supports justice.
A mentor and friend once said to me, If there is someone who is both activist and contemplative and who does both well, I have not yet met them. I silently accepted the challenge. He was articulating a very credible tension between the heart of the contemplative and the heart of the activist. At first strike, they appear inherently in conflict. The contemplative, some pillar of stillness, tasked with thinking and asking enduring questions that require a kind of slowness and pause. The activist, a beacon for the movement, committed to the doing of justice and mercy—not later but now, which does, as the name suggests, require action.
But what if what we take as stillness is not always inactivity as we perceive it? Can there be a form of contemplation that is at once stillness and movement? Some might say the beginnings of Christian monasticism were, in part, a defiant protest against the elitism and centering of the upper class in the faith. And today, activism tells the truth about what is and imagines what should be. This imagination for justice requires contemplation.
While committed to activism, it took Riley time to discern her true calling as a writer in the service of justice (Rohr, n.d.)
The Spirit may be urging us to examine our comfort with our faith practices to accept a deeper conversion in justice, kindness, and humility.
References
Matthew, CHAPTER 23. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/23?23
Meditation on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/08/23/473547/
Psalms, PSALM 96. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/96?10
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/our-unique-path-to-action-2022-08-23/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture ... Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=aug23
2 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2thessalonians/2?1
Wirth, E. (2022, August 21). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/082322.html
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