Greetings on this the Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Readings: 2 THES 3:6-10, 16-18; PS 128:1-2, 4-5; MT 23:27-32
The Third Series of Woes (6 and 7)
The woes readings were split over threes days. Today is the third and final. Yesterday’s: http://deacongerrypalermo.blog/2024/08/27/starting-point/
Summary
The third set of woes can be summarized by the question Jesus poses: how can you flee from the judgment of Gehenna?
State of Being
- [You are] inside full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.
- [You are] inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
Pathway Out (Spoken in the Negative as a Challenge)
- Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets. Meaning: The human condition, none exempt by ancestry.
- Now fill up what your ancestors measured out! Meaning: Do like they did or turn to a new way, each must decide for themselves.
Reflection
The gospel of Luke helps us understand the challenge Jesus offers the Leadership.
Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you (Lk 6:38).
Personal Reflection
Woe is a statement of the situation one gets into when your energy is self-focused and at the expense of others. These Leaders had a cushy life. But they were not joyful at all. Maybe that is the biggest woe of all. The Woes are late in the gospel of Matthew hence a state of affairs after Jesus has performed many wonders and Signs. Missing the joy of these things is like having no good at all.
I like Luke’s statement. If you mush measure, measure the good. Disavow the pretense of ancestry, deflection of blaming others, and the hypocrisy of wearing a mask.
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.
Sacred Readings
Full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082824.cfm
First Reading
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.
Responsorial
Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Whoever keeps the word of Christ, the love of God is truly perfected in him.
Gospel
Now fill up what your ancestors measured out!
Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry