hypocrites

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Tuesday, 11 October 2016 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)
Luke 11 : 37-41

At that time, as Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked Him to have a meal with him. So He went and sat at table. The Pharisee then wondered why Jesus did not first wash His hands before dinner. But the Lord said to him, “So then, you Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside yourselves you are full of greed and evil.”

“Fools! He Who made the outside, also made the inside. But according to you, by the mere giving of alms everything is made clean.

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Friday, 9 September 2016 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Claver, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Luke 6 : 39-42

At that time, Jesus offered this example, “Can a blind person lead another blind person? Surely both will fall into a ditch. A disciple is not above the master; but when fully trained, he will be like the master. So why do you pay attention to the speck in your brother’s eye, while you have a log in your eye, and are not conscious of it?”

“How can you say to your neighbour, ‘Friend, let me take this speck out of your eye,’ when you cannot remove the log in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the log from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbour’s eye.”

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Tuesday, 23 August 2016 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

Matthew 23 : 23-26

At that time, Jesus said to the crowd and to His disciples, “Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You do not forget the mint, anise and cumin seeds when you demand the tenth of everything, but then you forget what is most fundamental in the Law : justice, mercy and faith. These you must practice, instead of neglecting them. Blind guides! You strain out a mosquito, but swallow a camel.”

“Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You fill the plate and the cup with theft and violence, and then pronounce a blessing over them. Blind Pharisee! Purify the inside first, then the outside too will be purified.”

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Monday, 20 June 2016 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 7 : 1-5

At that time, Jesus spoke to the people and to His disciples, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. In the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and the measure you use for others will be used for you.”

“Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, and not see the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Come, let me take the speck from your eye,’ as long as that plank is in your own?’ Hypocrite, take first the plank out of your own eye, then you will see clearly enough to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

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Thursday, 9 June 2016 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ephrem, Deacon and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Doctors of the Church)

Matthew 5 : 20-26

At that time, Jesus spoke to the people and to His disciples, “I tell you then, if you are no righteous in a much broader way than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”

“You have heard that it was said to our people in the past : Do not commit murder; anyone who does kill will have to face trial. But now I tell you : whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial. Whoever insults a brother or a sister deserves to be brought before the council. Whoever calls a brother or a sister “Fool!” deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell.”

“So, if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with him, and then come back and offer your gift to God.”

“Do not forget this : be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court. Otherwise he will turn you over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, who will put you in jail. There you will stay, until you have paid the last penny.”

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Monday, 28 March 2016 : First Week of Easter, Monday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we continue to rejoice in the Easter celebrations, let us all heed the words of the Scripture, reminding us that God’s love for all those who are faithful to Him will keep all of us safe from all harm and troubles, and no enemy is going to be able to threaten us or harm us if we put our full trust in the Lord our God.

In this Easter season we all rejoice together celebrating the triumph that our Lord had shown us against the forces of evil and darkness, the triumph and victory He had shown us all against sin and against death, as He proved that mankind has a way out of their enslavement to sin, and they do not need to fear sin and death, for the Lord Himself had shown them His care and love, and through Him, they have hope for a new life renewed in grace.

But alas, it is mankind themselves who refused to listen to reason and refused to accept God’s offer of grace and forgiveness. They refused to open themselves and allow God to come in and transform them for the better. They shut themselves out of God’s love and tender mercy, and instead in their pride and arrogance, they thought that only their ways were correct.

That was why the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law refused to listen to the Lord and His truth, and even after He had suffered, died and risen to glory, they refused to accept the truth that He is the Lord, the Messiah, the Saviour of all, even the Saviour of all of them, all who have rejected Him. Remember, that on the cross, Jesus prayed for those who have condemned them to death? He has forgiven them from their sins, and even to those sinful people, He has offered His salvation and redemption.

And yet, they were adamant in their refusal. Why was it so, brothers and sisters in Christ? Why did the Pharisees, the elders and the chief priests persisted in their futile and wicked attempts to oppose Jesus, so far as to tell lies and falsehoods to the people, telling them that the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ was false? Should they not instead then believe in Him Who had shown everything just as they had been foretold by the prophets?

No, that was not the case because of their attachment to worldliness and human greed, the temptations of power, glory, fame and majesty, the allures of human praises and the temptations of things that please the flesh. They were highly respected in the society, and they held important positions of power and honour. To give all these up by abandoning all of their old, worldly ways to follow Jesus the Lord in all things were simply too much for most of them.

They were jealous of the Lord and His teaching authority, and of the truth which He was preaching to the people of God. They saw Him as a great and dangerous rival to their own influences, to their own fame and positions, and as they were so attached to all those, they were unwilling to let them go, and thus they persisted in resisting the Lord’s good works and set obstacles in His paths.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we hear all these things today, let us then ask ourselves. Are we like the Pharisees, the elders and the chief priests? Did we allow our worldly attachments to dull our love and commitment to God and His ways? Did we allow ourselves to be taken over by our greed, our pride, arrogance, haughtiness, and all the vices and wickedness in our hearts, by jealousy and hatred?

Let us all dedicate the time and opportunities given to us this Easter in order to push ourselves ever further on the path towards eternal salvation, and let us all seek to resist the temptations of our flesh, telling no to Satan and reject all of his evil and wicked advances. Let us all pray, that God will strengthen our faith and our resolve, to become ever more faithful and devoted in His presence. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 9 February 2016 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 7 : 1-13

At that time, one day the Pharisees gathered around Jesus, and with them were some teachers of the Law who had just come from Jerusalem. They noticed that some of His disciples were eating their meal with unclean hands, that is, without washing them.

Now the Pharisees, and in fact all the Jews, never eat without washing their hands, for they follow the tradition received from their ancestors. Nor do they eat anything, when they come from the market, without first washing themselves. And there are many other traditions they observe; for example, the ritual washing of cups, pots and plates.

So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but eat with unclean hands?” Jesus answered, “You shallow people! How well Isaiah prophesied of you when he wrote : ‘This people honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. The worship they offer Me is worthless, for what they teach are only human rules.’ You even put aside the commandment of God to hold fast to human tradition.”

And Jesus commented, “You have a fine way of disregarding the commandments of God in order to enforce your own traditions! For example, Moses said : Do your duty to your father and your mother, and : Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.”

“But according to you, someone could say to his father or mother, ‘I already declared Corban (which means “offered to God”) what you could have expected from me.’ In this case, you no longer require him to do anything for his father or mother, and so you nullify the word of God through the tradition you have handed on. And you do many other things like that.”

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Monday, 7 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 5 : 17-26

At that time, one day, Jesus was teaching, and many Pharisees and teachers of the Law had come from every part of Galilee and Judea, and even from Jerusalem. They were sitting there, while the power of the Lord was at work to heal the sick.

Then some men brought a paralysed man who lay on his mat. They tried to enter the house to place him before Jesus, but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof, and removing the tiles, they lowered him on his mat into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.” At once the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to wonder, “This Man insults God! Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

But Jesus knew their thoughts and asked them, “Why are you reacting like this? Which is easier to say : ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk?’ Now you shall know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

And Jesus said to the paralysed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” At once the man stood before them. He took up the mat he had been lying on, and went home praising God. Amazement seized the people and they praised God. They were filled with a holy fear, and said, “What wonderful things we have seen today!”

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Monday, 26 October 2015 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 10-17

At that time, Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a crippled woman was there. An evil spirit had kept her bent for eighteen years, so that she could not straighten up at all.

On seeing her, Jesus called her and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then He laid His hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight and praised God.

But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant, because Jesus had performed this healing on the Sabbath day, and he said to the people, “There are six days in which to work. Come on those days to be healed and not on the Sabbath!”

But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Everyone of you unties his ox or his donkey on the Sabbath, and leads it out of the barn to give it water. And here you have a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years. Should she not be freed from her bonds on the Sabbath?”

When Jesus said this, all His opponents felt ashamed. But the people rejoiced at the many wonderful things that happened because of Him.

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Wednesday, 14 October 2015 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Callistus I, Pope and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Luke 11 : 42-46

At that time, Jesus said to the Pharisee, “A curse is on you, Pharisees; to the Temple you give a tenth of all, including mint and rue and the other herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These ought to be practiced, without neglecting those.”

“A curse is on you, Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace. A curse is on you, for you are like tombstones of the dead which can hardly be seen; people do not notice them, and make themselves unclean by stepping on them.”

Then a teacher of the Law spoke up and said, “Master, when You speak like this, You insult us, too.” And Jesus answered, “A curse is on you also, teachers of the Law. For you prepare unbearable burdens and load them on the people, while you yourselves do not move a finger to help them.”