Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
If you’ve ever had the experience of making a New Year’s resolution, you’ll know how hard it is sometimes to put into practice the kind of changes you want to see happen in your life. It is one thing to wish or believe that things could be different; it is another thing to actually make things better. The challenges we can sometimes encounter in making progress in our faith can also be seen when we look at scripture and the lives of the saints. For instance, Paul complains about how he does not do the good that he has resolved to do, and St. Augustine is well known for the emphasis in his theology on the need for continuous conversion throughout one’s life.
The gospel passage for today speaks to us in a way that I think challenges and motivates us to persevere in our faith journey. The reading comes from an extended passage in Matthew where Jesus is responding to and criticizing the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. Jesus mentions that the Pharisees pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin, but they do not show mercy towards other people nor do they demonstrate their faith through conversion of the heart (verse 23).
Jesus’ words in the gospel for today are directed towards the Pharisees, but they also have a message for us. It is not enough for us to pay lip service to the idea that Christians are disciples of Jesus. We need to actively pursue this discipleship in our daily lives. It is not enough for us to go through the motions of religious observances and rituals. The empty observance of rituals and traditions can serve as a barrier between us and God. Going to church on Sunday can even become a habit that we do not think about. It can become second nature to us without changing us.
Jesus is saying that tradition is not enough to save us, and second, that it is mistaken and dangerous to elevate tradition above the internalization of God’s law in our hearts. If we truly desire to follow Jesus, then we are called to internalize his teachings so that they become a part of us and do not remain just an external code of conduct. Only in this way can they take root in our hearts and affect a change in our thoughts, and words, and deeds. Notice that Jesus is not saying here that it is bad to follow traditional observances and to be rooted in traditional faith practices. In fact, tradition presents us with wisdom from the past that help us greatly in discerning how to live out our lives as Christians. It also provides us with practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as well as devotions that help us to grow in our faith.
Jesus’ words in today’s gospel reading remind us that human actions flow from our inner spiritual state. If our hearts are oriented positively towards God, we will do what is pleasing to God, but if not, then we will do the opposite. We have the chance today to reflect on the ways that we can improve in our attempt to make Jesus’ teachings a rule for our lives. Let us pray for the grace to follow him in such a way that our hearts will truly be converted, so that we will show a fuller and deeper commitment to following Jesus.
- Joel Schickel