WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OCTOBER 13, 2021

MASS READINGS:

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Lk 11:42-46

The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

REFLECTION

you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.

Nothing sparkles and shines like silver. That dull and black film that forms or builds up is actually the result of oxidation. The hydrogen sulfide, found in air and water, reacts with the silver and forms a layer of corrosion. We don't see it happening but one day the silver is dull and tarnished. So we work on the surface to make it look pretty, bright and shiny with different polishers. However, with time it will tarnish again.

We shine at church, PTO, work, family gatherings but on the inside we are stubborn, argumentative, opinionated, but worst we are judgmental.

One thing that holds us back spiritually is the importance we put on the outside but neglect the inside. We go to confession and maximize our faults of sin and character, but overlook the faults of charity toward our neighbor or our love to God.

So it is well for us to look deeper into ourselves, not others, and see where have we failed in doing charitable deeds, thinking ill of a person, holding a grudge, being impatient, deceitful and not inclusive. And where have we placed God in our lives so that He, who we have inside, can be seen by many and shared.

God Bless You.