TUESDAY HOMILY OF 21ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: WHAT MATTERS!
BY: Fr. Paul Karabari
‘You have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith.’
In the Gospel of today (Matthew 23:23-26), Jesus went to the heart of the matter when He called the religious leaders of His day blind Pharisees and hypocrites!
The scribes devoted their lives to the study of the Law of God and regarded themselves as legal experts in it. They divided the ten commandments and precepts into thousands of tiny rules and regulations. They were so exacting in their interpretations and in trying to live them out that they had little time for anything else. By the time they finished compiling their interpretations, it took no less than fifty volumes to contain them! Jesus chastised them for neglecting the more important matters of religion, such as justice and the love of God. In their misguided zeal, they had lost sight of God and of his purpose for the law. Do not be so zealous that what you claim to be doing for God will only restrict you to the gate of heaven but never enter. You do not possess a wasted zeal for the kingdom of God.
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Jesus used the example of tithing to show how far they had missed the mark. God had commanded a tithe of the first fruits of one’s labour as an expression of thanksgiving and honour for His providential care for His people (Deut. 14:22; Lev. 27:30). The scribes, however, went to the extreme lengths to tithe on insignificant things (such as tiny plants) with great mathematical accuracy. They were very attentive to minute matters of little importance, but they neglected to care for the needy and the weak. Jesus admonished them because their hearts were not right. It is possible to have someone with so much love for God but with the same intensity of hate for neighbours.
They were filled with pride and contempt for others. They put unnecessary burdens on others while neglecting to show charity, especially to the weak and the poor. They meticulously went through the correct motions of conventional religion while forgetting the realities. Jesus used a humorous example to show how out of proportion matters had gotten with them.
Gnats were considered the smallest of insects, and camels were considered the largest of animals in Palestine. Both were considered ritually impure. The scribes went to great lengths to avoid contact with gnats, even to the point of straining the wine cup with a fine cloth lest they accidently swallowed a gnat.
The stark contrast must have drawn chuckles as well as groans. What was the point of Jesus’ lesson and humour? The essence of God’s commandments is love; love of God and love of neighbour. God is love, and everything He does flow from His love for us. Love is sacrificial; it both embraces and lifts the burdens of others. Do you allow the love of God to transform your mind and heart? Forget about our speaking in tongues, our seeing visions, and performing miracles, if love is missing, we are only religious entertainers.
We must fill our hearts with love and inflame us with zeal for God’s Kingdom. We must act with mercy, kindness, and justice in all our relations and in all that we do. Everything is useless without this. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, heal our world, bless and protect us all through Christ, our Lord Amen.
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