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Reading 1
1 Thes 2:1-8
You yourselves know, brothers and sisters,
that our reception among you was not without effect.
Rather, after we had suffered and been insolently treated,
as you know, in Philippi,
we drew courage through our God
to speak to you the Gospel of God with much struggle.
Our exhortation was not from delusion or impure motives,
nor did it work through deception.
But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel,
that is how we speak,
not as trying to please men,
but rather God, who judges our hearts.
Nor, indeed, did we ever appear with flattering speech, as you know,
or with a pretext for greed–God is witness–
nor did we seek praise from men,
either from you or from others,
although we were able to impose our weight as Apostles of Christ.
Rather, we were gentle among you,
as a nursing mother cares for her children.
With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you
not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well,
so dearly beloved had you become to us.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 139:1-3, 4-6
R. (1) You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
O Lord, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know the whole of it.
Behind me and before, you hem me in
and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
too lofty for me to attain.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
Gospel
Mt 23:23-262
Jesus said:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading 1 Thessalonians 2:1 – 8
You know yourselves, my brothers, that our visit to you has not proved ineffectual.
We had, as you know, been given rough treatment and been grossly insulted at Philippi, and it was our God who gave us the courage to proclaim his Good News to you in the face of great opposition. We have not taken to preaching because we are deluded, or immoral, or trying to deceive anyone; it was God who decided that we were fit to be entrusted with the Good News, and when we are speaking, we are not trying to please men but God, who can read our inmost thoughts. You know very well, and we can swear it before God, that never at any time have our speeches been simply flattery, or a cover for trying to get money; nor have we ever looked for any special honor from men, either from you or anybody else, when we could have imposed ourselves on you with full weight, as apostles of Christ.
Instead, we were unassuming. Like a mother feeding and looking after her own children, we felt so devoted and protective towards you, and had come to love you so much, that we were eager to hand over to you not only the Good News but our whole lives as well.
Responosorial Psalm: Psalm 138(139):1-3,4-6
O Lord, you search me and you know me.
O Lord, you search me and you know me,
you know my resting and my rising,
you discern my purpose from afar.
O Lord, you search me and you know me.
You mark when I walk or lie down,
all my ways lie open to you.
Before ever a word is on my tongue
you know it, O Lord, through and through.
O Lord, you search me and you know me.
Behind and before you besiege me,
your hand ever laid upon me.
Too wonderful for me this knowledge,
too high, beyond my reach.
O Lord, you search me and you know me.
Gospel Matthew 23:23 – 26
Jesus said, ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others. You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing camels!
‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Tuesday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time
From: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
First Gospel Preaching in Thessalonica
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[1] For you yourselves know, brethren, that our visit to you was not in vain; [2] but though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the face of great opposition. [3] For our appeal does not spring from error or uncleanness, nor is it made with guile; [4] but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please men, but to please God who tests our hearts. [5] For we never used either words of flattery, as you know, or a cloak for greed as God is witness; [6] nor did we seek glory from men, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. [7] But we were gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her children. [8] So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
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Commentary:
1-2. As we know from the Acts of the Apostles, St Paul and his companions arrived in Thessalonica after the persecution unleashed in Philippi (cf. Acts 16: 19-40). Soon after that, jealousy led Jews in Thessalonica to provoke unrest and they had to leave that city too (cf. Acts 17:5-10). Opposition should never prevent a person from doing his duty to spread the word of God. "Whenever God opens a door for the word in order to declare the mystery of Christ, then the living God, and he whom he has sent for the salvation of all, Jesus Christ, are confidently and perseveringly proclaimed to all men. And this is in order that non-Christians, whose heart is being opened by the Holy Spirit, might, by believing, freely turn to the Lord" (Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 13).
Laziness or cowardice can provide all kinds of excuses. Therefore, it "would be useful if every Christian and every evangelizer were to pray about the following thought: men can gain salvation also in other ways, by God's mercy, even though we do not preach the Gospel to them; but as for us, can we gain salvation if through negligence or fear or shame -- what St Paul called 'being ashamed of the gospel' (Rom 1:16)--or as a result of false ideas we fail to preach it? For that would be to betray the call of God, who wishes the seed to bear fruit through the voice of the ministers of the Gospel; and it will depend on us whether this grows into trees and produces its full fruit. Let us therefore preserve our fervor of spirit. Let us preserve the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow" (Paul VI, "Evangelii Nuntiandi", 80).
Love of God and faithfulness to our calling should lead us "not to be afraid of the word of God in the midst of tribulation [...]; if someone has firm hope of attaining what he is promised, he will not yield, so as thereby to gain his reward" (St Thomas, "Commentary on 1 Thess, ad loc.").
3-6. Those who teach the Gospel should always do so with the right intention, for God "tests our hearts". "Let us remember how near he is to us and that not a single one of our thoughts or plans can ever be hidden from him" (St Clement of Rome, "Letter to the Corinthians", 1, 21).
Instruction of others in the faith "is sincere when it is given in keeping with the tenor and purpose that Christ had when he taught" ("Commentary on I Thess, ad loc."). St Paul castigates as "uncleanness" any betrayal of Christ's teaching: this is rather like the Old Testament's view of infidelity to Yahweh as adultery (cf. Is 1:21-26; Hos 1-3). When the Apostle says his preaching does not spring from uncleanness, he means that he does not do violence to or alter the content of the Christian message. As Paul VI puts it, "the preacher of the Gospel will be a person who even at the price of personal renunciation and suffering always seeks the truth that he must transmit to others. He never betrays or hides truth out of a desire to please men, in order to astonish or to shock, nor for the sake of originality or a desire to make an impression. He does not refuse truth. He does not obscure revealed truth by being too idle to search for it, or for the sake of his own comfort, or out of fear. He does not neglect to study it. He serves it generously, without making it serve him" ("Evangelii Nuntiandi", 78).
The Apostle makes the point that at no time did he try to deceive anyone or act for personal gain--unlike the spreaders of false doctrine then to be found all over the Roman empire (cf. Acts 17:18-21). The Second Vatican Council evokes this when it says that "from the very beginnings of the Church the disciples of Christ strove to convert men to confess Christ as Lord, not however by applying coercion or with the use of techniques unworthy of the Gospel but, above all, by the power of the word of God" ("Dignitatis Humanae", 11).
7-9. St Paul could have "made demands" in a double sense--by using the full force of his apostolic authority, and by exercising his right to financial support from the community (cf. 1 Cor 9:14); but he did neither one thing (vv. 7-8) nor the other (v. 9).
On the contrary, he passed on the Gospel message and worked with the disinterested love and dedication of a nursing mother. St John Chrysostom, putting himself in St Paul's place, comments as follows: "It is true that I preached the Gospel to you in obedience to a commandment from God; but I love you with so great a love that I would have been ready to die for you. That is the perfect model of sincere, genuine love. A Christian who loves his neighbor should be inspired by these sentiments. He should not wait to be asked to give up his life for his brother; rather, he should offer it himself" ("Hom. on 1 Thess, ad loc.").
"The work of evangelization presupposes in the evangelizer an ever increasing love for those whom he is evangelizing [...]. What is this love? It is much more than that of a teacher; it is the love of a father; and again, it is the love of a mother. It is this love that the Lord expects from every preacher of the Gospel, from every builder of the Church. A sign of love will be the concern to give the truth and to bring people into unity [...]. Yet another sign of love will be the effort to transmit to Christians not doubts and uncertainties born of an erudition poorly assimilated but certainties that are solid because they are anchored in the Word of God. The faithful need these certainties for their Christian life; they have a right to them, as children of God" (Paul VI, "Evangelii Nuntiandi", 79).
The Apostle's hardworking life strengthened his moral authority when he had to warn people against the temptation of idleness (cf. 1 Thess 4:11; it also was a very good example for the early generations of Christians.
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From: Matthew 23:23-26
Jesus Indicts the Scribes and Pharisees
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(Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees,) [23] "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. [24] You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
[25] "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity." [26] You blind Pharisee! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean."
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Commentary:
23. Mint, dill (aniseed) and cummin were herbs the Jews used in cooking or to perfume rooms. They were such insignificant items that they were not covered by the Mosaic precept on paying tithes (Leviticus 27:30-33; Deuteronomy 14: 22ff); the precept did not apply to domestic animals and the more common agricultural products such as wheat, wine and olive oil. However, the Pharisees, being so intent on showing their scrupulous observance of the Law, paid tithes even of these herbs. Our Lord does not despise or reject the Law; He is simply telling people to get their priorities right: there is no point in attending to secondary details if one is neglecting what is really basic and important--justice, mercy and faith.
24. The Pharisees were so scrupulous about not swallowing any insect which the Law declared to be unclean that they went as far as to filter drinks through a linen cloth. Our Lord criticizes them for being so inconsistent--straining mosquitoes, being so scrupulous about little things, yet quite happily "swallowing a camel", committing serious sins.
25-26. After reproaching the Pharisees for their hypocrisy in religious practice, our Lord now goes on to indict their twofacedness in matters of morality. The Jews used to perform elaborate washings of plates, cups and other tableware, in line with the regulations on legal cleansing (cf. Mark 7:1-4).
The example He chooses suggests a deeper level of meaning--concern for that moral purity which should characterize man's interior life. What is of prime importance is cleanliness of heart, an upright intention, consistency between what one says and what one does, etc.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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