Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Sometimes when I am at Mass, or listening to a talk or even conversing with a friend, my mind drifts from that present moment. The words and message around me are replaced by some internal voice that often leads me away from what is important. It might be understood as paying closer attention to the text message that our brain has just sent us as opposed to the current moment that demands our real presence.
Sometimes of course, hearing the message of the present might not be easily received or fully comprehended. Take for instance St Augustine, who heard the message of the Word but was not ready to fully receive it. Thus we have a quote from him saying, “Oh Lord, give me chastity, but do not give it yet.” Consider the messages we get from the Word. Does this Word call us to action, avoidance, or apathy?
This response to the Word is Paul’s focus in today’s reading. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that he has witnessed for them how to authentically live as a faithful disciple. Also, Paul encourages them to continue to allow the true Word of God to work in transforming their lives. Paul offers this emphasis on the Word to contrast the words of human beings.
In the Gospel, Jesus too is drawing a contrast between the actions of the Pharisees and their supposed beliefs. Jesus points to their practice of whitewashing graves and how this is done to protect the faithful from becoming unclean by touching the dead, as if touching a gravestone could make one impure. For Jesus, these whitewashed tombs symbolized the Pharisees. Jesus said it this way, “beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones.” (Matthew 23: 27) How are we beautiful on the outside but dead on the inside? How can we become better hearers and doers of the Word?
"Steadfast God, open our minds and hearts so that we might hear and do all that we have been taught through the Word and God’s holy church. Amen!
- Michael Montgomery