25 August 2025, Monday of the 21st week
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8b-10: Matthew 23:13-22
Homily
In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus' preaching begins with a series of ‘blessings’; and one of his last great discourses before his Passion begins with a series of ‘curses,’ all directed against the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. When we think of Jesus' great kindness and mercy towards all kinds of sinners, his severity towards the Pharisees may surprise us.
Throughout Jesus' public life, we can see a continual and growing tension between Him and the Pharisees. The source of this tension did not lie in the fact that Jesus taught a more severe moral life than the Pharisees did. On the contrary, it could be said that the Pharisees' code of conduct was more demanding than Jesus'. What separated—and radically separated—Jesus from the Pharisees was His teaching about God. Jesus was more interested in revealing who His Father was than in giving rules and regulations.
The God of the Pharisees is a God who has established a number of rules and precepts. If you know the recipe and use the right ingredients in your life, and if you mix and cook everything properly, your salvation is assured. You do the things you are told to do, and because of that, you are entitled to receive what has been promised to you. This way of thinking about salvation remains a temptation, especially for monks and nuns. It is the concept that Paul (who had received a good Pharisee education) fought against all his life, from the moment of his conversion.
The God of Jesus – His Father – is not a God we can buy with our good deeds, or even with the most virtuous of lives. He is a God of mercy and love. The justification and salvation He wants to give us are not based on our good deeds and virtues; they are based solely on His mercy.
However, the reproach that Jesus makes to the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in today's Gospel is above all that of being hypocrites, of abusing the simplicity of the people, of manipulating the people, teaching as necessary acts and attitudes that they know well are not necessary, since they do not practise them themselves.
As for us, let us open our hearts to a God who is not interested in rights – whether his or ours – because everything he does for us is a totally free gift, and because he expects from us not something we might owe him, but rather a totally free love.
Armand Veilleux