Monday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Faith is not something easy to define, nor is it something that we can say we simply understand. In today’s first reading, we begin the second letter to the Thessalonians, and we hear the greeting extended to them by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. The word “faith” emerges several times in this short text. Though the writers praise the faith of the Thessalonian church, they also say that they pray that God “bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith” (2 Thes 1:11). This seems to imply that faith is not just something that someone possesses; you don’t just have faith and that’s it. Rather, God’s grace works with faith, bringing to fulfillment the efforts of faith. There is a necessary interplay here. We can’t simply do faith on our own. In the gospel passage from Matthew, we get a sense of what it might mean to try to do faith on our own. Jesus here criticizes the scribes and the Pharisees on a number of accounts, most particularly he finds fault with their priorities and the effect this has on others. What they value is not the temple, but the gold of the temple, not the altar, but the gift of the altar, not the kingdom of heaven and their religious practice, but their ability to influence others regarding these. In so prizing that which they value, the scribes and Pharisees devalue something else, namely, communal worship.

What really matters is the worship performed at the altar and the temple. When God’s grace works with authentic faith, what we get is good worship. This good worship is our highest calling as individuals and as a Church. As is the case in the first reading, we pray for each other; the liturgy is our best opportunity to do this. We support each other by participating well in the Mass: being attentive to the readings, responding in full voice, joining in the singing, respectfully receiving the Eucharist, etc. It’s not always easy to do this, but it’s what we are called to do.

Good worship on Sunday prepares us to live a holy life Monday through Saturday. Openness to Christ in the Eucharist allows for openness to Christ in others throughout the week. This week, try to reflect on your Sunday (or weekday) worship. How can we be more conscious of being worship-full people throughout the week? How can our daily lives be influenced by our worship?

- Maria Morrow