LOOK UP

Having found out about what had happened to a dear departed relative have caused so mush sorrow and pain to our circle of family, relatives and friends. At this time of grief no words can suffice to ease the great pain of a loss of a loved one. But one thing is sure as I have witnessed in my own mother having passed through almost the same loss that the wife of our departed relative is experiencing right now, it has made my mother a woman of great faith and courage. For it is written in today's 1st reading that the Lord would never forsake the widow and the orphan and that we can surely rely on. Amen. Hallelujah!

Isaiah 1:10, 16-20
...Make justice your aim, redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow. 18 Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD.

No matter how difficult things may seem to be at present we can always count on God at all times. The Lord hears our cries and supplications. He knows and sees all and He will surely make things right for us. Amen. Hallelujah!


Psalms 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23
R: To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
...He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”

In the 1st reading today we can see that it begin with a criticism addressed to the people of Jerusalem, Sodom & Gomorrah, to indicate that they are doomed people unless they repent and in the gospel Jesus addressed the scribes and the Pharisees, He compliments but criticizes strongly. The Pharisees represent the lay party and the priesthood the Sadducees. At the time of Jesus during the Roman rule, they figured the way to peace is through adaptation. The houses of priests are decorated just as the Romans, as in Pompei and very much like it. They have identified themselves with the oppressive dominant culture and though they would keep some Jewish law they deny judgment, heaven, hell, and eternity. On the other hand, the Pharisees or the lay counteract the way priests are living. They had 2 principles, to take the rules of ritual purity so that the laity would be pure as they offer sacrifices like a kingdom of priests as in Exodus 19:6 “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. That is what you must tell the Israelites." The people of Israel is a kingdom of priests and they put a fence around the law so that no one would break the law. An example is “Thou shall not use the Lord’s name in vain” In order to make sure they don’t break the law, no one is allowed to say the Lord’s name. A death penalty is given to those who break it. This is precisely the oral tradition that our Lord is talking about in the gospel. The Pharisees were not helping people live the law because they don’t practice it themselves and made life complicated. In Chorazin, there would be a seat of Moses for the Rabbi, which symbolizes the authority to teach in the synagogue. The Lord says pay attention to what they teach but don’t do what they do. One of the things they are being criticized for is pride and arrogance. Jesus warns us against that vice especially for religious people not so much for the people outside. Church people can try to show that we are holy so that people would compliment us and they would think that we’re religious and they’re not. This is a constant problem for religious people at all levels, whether laity or the priesthood. The devil will try to tempt us with whatever works, if we’re not religious he can use things of the flesh to tempt us, but if we are religious then he can tempt us with our pride and change it into something spiritual. It is impossible to detect pride in ourselves. People around us will know so its important to pay attention to what they say to us so that so we learn from it. It is too difficult to detect a vice on our own because it is easier to detect it in other people or to listen to what other people say. Jesus mentions about those who widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. Jewish men wear a phylactery which is a small leather box that they wear on their forehead and one on their left arm as in Deut 6:8, Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. They took it literally as a part of the way to obey the law. They make it really big so to show people that they are more pious than others and because it is bigger they stand out more than them. The tassel is a sign of royalty in the ancient times. Jewish men wear this to show that they are a kingdom of priests for God. They even tie 613 knots in the tassel which represents one tie for every 613 laws as a sign of obeying the entire commandment. Jesus wears a tassel Himself if we may recall the woman who touched the tassel of Jesus and got healed. He’s not against it, but feeding the pride is the issue. He mentioned not to be called Rabbi or teacher which is important in this context because at that time there were different rabbis that start various sects called a House. They are rival sects of Pharisees and disagree among themselves which can be found in the collection of Rabbinic sayings, the Mishnah. What He is speaking about here is that we may not call anyone a Rabbi for He did not want us to be divided. Oneness among ourselves is an important virtue that He commends among His disciples. He did not want Christianity to be divided and wanted us to submit to the oneness of the Church. Humility is the antidote to the pride as He said that the least is the greatest. We have to keep in mind the division among the Pharisees is the underlying reason for this restriction of why they should not be called rabbi or father. In Corinthians Paul insists on being called a Father because he preaches to them. There is nothing wrong it with because he knows that the real work is done by the Holy Spirit and he is part of a community known and a spiritual father but not in the sense of a father that Christ is speaking of in the gospel like sects which is something that we’re not to do. Christ calls us, as Isaiah to set things right. All of us needs to have the sense especially this season of Lent to repent especially of religious pride. The readings call us to humility. It does not mean putting ourselves down but rather saying the truth about ourselves, not more not less. Pride is looking down at other people who is below me. We need to think of it this way, when we look down on people, Christ hits us at the back of the head.  We better just look up at people. When we are looking up at the skies, we feel small, so how much more would we feel looking up to God. That’s when we realize what humility is all about. We see our sinfulness and smallness in reference to God, which is the antidote to our pride. If we do, then Christ will save us and bring us to the joys of heaven. Amen. Hallelujah!


Matthew 23:1-12
1 Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. 3 Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. 5 All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. 6 They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, 7 greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ 8 As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. 10 Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you must be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”