Good and Bad Fathers

Aug 30: Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Today, we meet two kinds of leaders. There’s Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, who treat their followers as a loving father cares for his children. Then there’s the Pharisees, who Jesus compares to tombs, clean on the outside but “full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth” inside.

I don’t think I have to spell out which one is the model to follow.

Reading 1

1 Thes 2:9-13

You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery. Working night and day in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers. As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children, exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into his Kingdom and glory.

And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.

Paul, et al., don’t charge money for their preaching. They don’t want any to be confused—they’re not selling anything. They’re giving the Word of God. If it came from men, they could monetize it, charging lots of money to give expert lectures. But God’s Word is for everyone and all of us. So, Paul kept his day job.

It’s similar with our modern priests and religious. Yes, it is their “job,” but they don’t charge for their preaching and sacraments; they take a vow of poverty so it’s possible to freely (in both senses of the word) preach the Gospel.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 139:7-8, 9-10, 11-12ab

R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall guide me,
and your right hand hold me fast.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall hide me,
and night shall be my light"–
For you darkness itself is not dark,
and night shines as the day.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.

This is a different selection of verses from the same Psalm we heard yesterday. It’s a meditation on God’s omnipresence and omniscience.

It can be frightening, if we’re trying to hide our wrongdoing from God—He sees us even in the darkest night. But it doesn’t have to be that way; we can take comfort knowing that His presence will always be the brightest day.

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. 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 intervention.

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.