Don't Be Lazy
Aug 28: Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
St. Augustine’s Feast Day comes right after his mother’s, which I think most sons would appreciate.
Relevant to today’s first reading, St. Augustine asked: “Should we conceal whatever good we do from the eyes of men and fear that it be seen? If you are afraid that people will see you, you will have no imitators; therefore you should be seen. But that isn’t why you should allow yourself to be seen. The goal of your joy mustn’t be there, nor the end of your gladness, that you should think that you have acquired the whole fruit of your good work when you have been seen and praised.
“Let him who works through you be praised in you. Don’t accomplish whatever good you do for your own praise, then, but for the praise of him from whom you have the means to do good.”
Reading 1
2 Thes 3:6-10, 16-18
We instruct you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who walks in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us. For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
This greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s. This is the sign in every letter; this is how I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.
Apparently, some believers misunderstood Paul’s preaching, and believed the end of time and the Second Coming were imminent. Thus, they decided they didn’t need to work anymore!
Here, Paul makes it very clear that’s not what he meant. We have to keep working, serving one anther, until Jesus comes again. We don’t know when that will be, so we can’t be lazy now.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 128:1-2, 4-5
R. (1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
How hard we work determines what fruit we will produce. Faith alone is dead; with continuous and ongoing good works, we will bear the fruit God wants us to.
Alleluia
1 Jn 2:5
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Remember that the First Letter of John was written within living memory of Jesus. Some people claimed to “know” Jesus because they literally met Him. But that’s not enough.
In Spanish, there are two words we translate as “know” in English—conocer and saber. The latter is intellectual, related to knowledge and ability; the former refers to being familiar with someone personally. We can’t just have intellectual knowledge of Jesus, but intimate knowledge, through obedience, “keeping the word of Christ.”
Gospel
Mt 23:27-32
Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood.' Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out!"
It’s easy to look at the past and think, “I wouldn’t have participated in [whatever historical atrocity].” We like to think we’d be August Landmesser—
But that’s almost certainly not true. Look at that crowd. Most people then are like most people now.1 The Pharisees, like their ancestors who shed the blood of prophets before them, ended up killing Jesus.
Would we have stood by Jesus? The apostles didn’t. Would we have openly declared our faith in Him? Peter, the first pope, denied Him three times.
Jesus is different; Jesus is the exception. The only way for us to be different or exceptional is through His intercession.
Paul made great pains to make it clear the Gospel wasn’t His, but Christ’s. He gave Jesus credit for every good thing. We should be praying for the same grace and humility.
