Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Most people know the cliché “actions speak louder than words.” The phrase is commonly understood to suggest that “how we live” (our actions) says more about each of us, than “how we say we live”( our words). St. Francis of Assisi who lived almost 800 years ago taught his brothers, “Preach the gospel always if necessary use words.” Francis reinvigorated the idea of simple living because he knew that from a life of poverty he could preach more genuinely about the itinerate preacher he loved named Jesus. Today’s readings proclaim most clearly these thoughts and remind us how deeply rooted the idea of hypocrisy is in what it means to be human. In the letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul describes the great lengths to which he went so as to not burden the believers for his room and board. And yet he also describes even more explicitly how “we treated each one of you as a Father treats his children.” (1 Thes 2:11) A fathers care is often one that encourages and is also one that challenges us to live our lives in a manner worthy of the Kingdom of God. Paul’s challenge is now directly to us to remind each of us that we need to live in a way that glorifies the Lord. Our behavior must be blameless otherwise we are preaching toward a Kingdom not from God.

Being scrupulous is not what St. Paul would mean as proper behavior. This is clarified by Jesus in today’s Gospel. Jesus’ words seem harsh, “you hypocrites…are like whitewashed tombs which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones. (Mt 23:27-32) Even if the outside of our bodies is polished and shiny, if the light is not on at the home in our hearts. Jesus is challenging us to have vibrant faith lives.

How do we get there from here? We need to actively continue to form and conform our hearts to the Gospel of Christ. An excited and engaged heart will generate lives our on fire for the Lord. Lives that when lived well reflect outwardly that inner joy. Reflect on one way you could to change your interior life; commit to that change. “Lord, help set a fire in our hearts so that our lives outward reflect our inner joy that come only from You Lord. Amen!”

- Michael Montgomery