The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to consider how God is active today in the lives of people who work for peace and justice in our environment.
The Reading from the First Letter of Paul to theThessalonians reviews Paul’s Ministry Among Them.
Psalm 139 proclaims God’s presence in every part of the universe.
* [Psalm 139] A hymnic meditation on God’s omnipresence and omniscience. The psalmist is keenly aware of God’s all-knowing gaze (Ps 139:1–6), of God’s presence in every part of the universe (Ps 139:7–12), and of God’s control over the psalmist’s very self (Ps 139:13–16). Summing up Ps 139:1–16, 17–18 express wonder. There is only one place hostile to God’s rule—wicked people. The psalmist prays to be removed from their company (Ps 139:19–24). (Psalms, PSALM 139 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Matthew continues the Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees.
* [23:27–28] The sixth woe, like the preceding one, deals with concern for externals and neglect of what is inside. Since contact with dead bodies, even when one was unaware of it, caused ritual impurity (Nm 19:11–22), tombs were whitewashed so that no one would contract such impurity inadvertently.
* [23:29–36] The final woe is the most serious indictment of all. It portrays the scribes and Pharisees as standing in the same line as their ancestors who murdered the prophets and the righteous.
* [23:29–32] In spite of honoring the slain dead by building their tombs and adorning their memorials, and claiming that they would not have joined in their ancestors’ crimes if they had lived in their days, the scribes and Pharisees are true children of their ancestors and are defiantly ordered by Jesus to fill up what those ancestors measured out. This order reflects the Jewish notion that there was an allotted measure of suffering that had to be completed before God’s final judgment would take place. (Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB, n.d.)
Nancy Shirley comments that like the scribes and Pharisees, we often run from our inner lives.
Do we fear the stench of failure, the debris of disappointment? Have weeds overtaken the garden? Will anything grow? Jesus lays down a challenge: you can run but I am on your trail. You can neglect the garden, but it will not die. I will find you.
The unabashed love that God has for us is shocking. It is liberating to be known by another. It is astonishing to be known and loved. God exhorts us like “a father treats his children.” Wherever we run, we are not far from home. To glimpse this love can bring us home. (Shirley, 2025)
Don Schwager quotes “Good deeds done for God,” author unknown, from the 5th century A.D.
"Every good deed that is done for God is universally good for everything and everyone. Deeds that are not seen to benefit everything and everyone, however, are done on account of man, as the present matter itself demonstrates. For example, those who build reliquaries and adorn churches seem to be doing good. If they imitate the justice of God, if the poor benefit from their goods and if they do not acquire their goods through violence against others, it is clear that they are building for the glory of God. If they fail to observe God's justice... and if the poor never benefit from their goods and if they acquire their goods from others by means of violence or fraud, who is so foolish not to understand that they are building for human respect rather than for the glory of God? Those who build reliquaries in a just manner ensure that the poor do not suffer as a result of it. For the martyrs do not rejoice when they are honored by gifts for which the poor paid with their tears. What kind of justice is it to give gifts to the dead and to despoil the living or to drain blood from the poor and offer it to God? To do such things is not to offer sacrifice to God but to attempt to make God an accomplice in violence, since whoever knowingly accepts a gift which was acquired by sinful means participates in the sin." (excerpt from an incomplete Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, HOMILY 45) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 23:27-32 warns us to be careful not to observe these “hypocrites” at a distance, standing in judgment as if they’re some exotic species with whom we have nothing in common.
Blessed be God, who never stops loving us and calling us out of these tombs we have constructed for ourselves! Whenever we turn to him, he gives us the courage to search our hearts, the humility to repent, and the grace to take another step into the light of Christ. What’s more, he doesn’t just help us to shed our sins; he makes us into the very “aroma of Christ,” spreading the fragrance of his love everywhere we go (2 Corinthians 2:15).
“Search me, O Lord, and lead me on your path of righteousness!” (Meditation on Matthew 23:27-32, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that Paul says that in Thessaloniki he was a tentmaker who took care of his needs. He cites as a witness that he acted blamelessly. Now he treats them as a father’s love, exhorting and encouraging, and he continues a lengthy thanksgiving and their success is based on the action of God. Whitewashed tombs are considered unclean. Looked good but inside nothing but decay. Continue to persecute the priests like your ancestors. Friar Jude reminds us that the Pharisees were prime in pushing Christians from the synagogue and being shunned by family and community.
Fr. Richard Rohr comments that Thich Nhat Hanh (1926–2022) and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) shared a friendship based on solidarity with the suffering of one another’s communities. The continuing and developing friendship between King and Nhat Hanh led Nhat Hanh to further explore the relationship between Buddhism and Christianity. As he wrote in Living Buddha, Living Christ.
It was only later, through friendships with Christian men and women who truly embody the spirit of understanding and compassion of Jesus, that I have been able to touch the depths of Christianity. The moment I met Martin Luther King, Jr., I knew I was in the presence of a holy person. Not just his good work but his very being was a source of great inspiration for me. [3] (Rohr, n.d.)
We seek the consolation of the Spirit as we experience our Baptismal Anointing as prophet, and the likely disinterest of many in the Way we profess.
References
Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 27, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/23?27
Meditation on Matthew 23:27-32. (n.d.). The Word Among Us. Retrieved August 27, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/?utm_content=buffer5c902&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Psalms, PSALM 139 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 27, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/139?7
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved August 27, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-friendship-for-peace/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). True Beauty and Goodness Come from Within. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 27, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=aug27
Shirley, N. (2025, August 27). Daily Reflection August 27, 2025 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved August 27, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-27-2025
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