Fr Marco Lazzaron
ddressing the people and his disciples Jesus said, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say, but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they! Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels, like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi. (Mt 23:1-7).
I ask myself, while I am writing, would it be possible to skip the Gospel of this Sunday, and jump straight to the next? Is this Gospel about me? Maybe not, even though most likely it is because Jesus is speaking to the crowds but in particular to his disciples, to you and to me, in a personal way. So, I may add, if you are already upset here, stop reading, but if you like to ask some questions about your spiritual life, then you can continue. But let the Holy Spirit work in un us and let it shed light on our inner self.
Since they do not practice what they preach. Am I one who says but not does? Or in my case now, am I one who writes nice reflections but then does not put them into practice? Am I honest with God and with myself before being honest with you? These questions are not just for the priest(s) but to all those who in one way or another are responsible over someone else, at school, in the job, and most important for parents at home. Do I listen to what I say? Do I live it effectively? This is something we learnt through the recent Gospels of the past few weeks, Christ doesn’t bear hypocrisy.
How much damage we can do if we cannot put this into practice. As Pope Francis says: it would be better to say that we are atheists and we would not offend Christ and the Gospel; we would not call Christ a liar.
Everything they do is done to attract attention. It is wonderful to be loved, but it is different from being admired and attract attention. The first, to be loved, comes from God and it is directed to the heart, the second leads to futile exterior behaviour without a consequent change in our soul. God loves us and does not judge us, He gives us time for our conversion, He accompanies us, and He lets us flourish. So, then, what about us? Is our behaviour focused on ourselves, to be admired, appreciated, to attract attention or to do what we say and love our neighbour as God commanded us?
They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they! Christ has taken our heavy burdens on his shoulder, Christ lived what he said; He was the only true authentic Rabbi.