Tuesday of the Twenty-First Week of Ordinary Time

Lectio

    Matthew 23:23–26

Meditatio

“… judgment and mercy and fidelity.”

    Jesus is still at it in today’s Gospel, taking aim at the practices of the scribes and Pharisees (but not at their teachings). Like the prophets of old, Jesus offers a stinging critique of practices that were not wrong in themselves but which were carried to such an extreme that their meaning was lost. He wants to bring the scribes and Pharisees into full conformity with God’s will, which is never simply an external practice.

    The passage could almost be part of the Sermon on the Mount with its emphasis on seeking God’s kingship and justice (see Mt 6:33). It is the perennial temptation of devout people to replace these by overemphasizing externals, the way Jesus teasingly portrays the scribes and Pharisees as doing: not satisfied with paying tithes on their crops as the Law requires, they even measure out 10 percent of the tiny seeds of garden herbs. (Whole cumin seeds are the size of caraway or fennel seeds.) Such scrupulosity can cause one to lose track of what today’s Gospel sums up as “judgment and mercy and fidelity.”

    Why the Pharisees make such distinctions is easy enough to understand: It’s much easier to focus on things that are more within our reach, and external things are under our control. After all, justice, mercy, and fidelity are attributes of God! Tithes, even of herbs, are at least within our reach. Saint Paul called this seeking “a justice of one’s own” (see Phil 3:9). It means, Paul hints, keeping oneself outside the realm of grace.

Oratio

    Centuries later, Lord, it is still a temptation for me to distract myself with rules and practices to such an extent that I forget to honor you! How convenient for me when that “higher” duty is also more manageable, more within reach, more clearly and cleanly defined, and even measurable. The neater the outcomes, the easier it is for me to feel confident that I have “fulfilled all righteousness” (see Mt 3:15). Invoking a “higher” law or value may even be a ruse I set up for myself, to protect me from responding freely and fully when faced with human need. Jesus, you spoke plainly but mercifully to the scribes and Pharisees. Break through my self-deceptions, too, so that I keep “judgment and mercy and fidelity” as the central criteria that guide my choices and priorities.

Contemplatio

    Seek first God’s kingdom and justice (see Mt 6:33).

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ORDINARY GRACE Weeks 18–34: Daily Gospel Reflections (By the Daughters of St. Paul)