＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Ezekiel 43:1-7ab

He took  me to the gate,

Facing east.  Then I saw the Glory of the God of Israel approaching from the east with a sound like the sound of the ocean, and the earth shone with his Glory. This vision was like the one I had seen when he came for the destruction of the city, and like the one I had seen on the bank of the river Chebar. Then I threw myself to the ground.

 The Glory of Yahweh arrived at the Temple by the east gate.   The spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court: the Glory of Yahweh was filling the House.   And I heard someone speaking to me from the Temple while the man stood beside me.

 The voice said, “Son of man, you have seen the place of my throne, where I will place the soles of my feet, and live among the Israelites forever; and the people of Israel, they and their kings, will no longer defile my holy name with their prostitutions and the kings.

 

Ps 85:9ab & 10, 11-12, 13-14

The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.

 

 ＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊  

Matthew 23:1-12

 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees sat on the seat of Moses.  So you shall do and observe all they say, but do not do as they do,   for they do not do what they say.

They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even raise a finger to move them.  They do everything in order to be seen by people; so they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels.  

They enjoy the first place at feasts and reserved seats in the synagogues,   and being greeted in the marketplace and being called ‘Master’ by the people.

But you, do not let yourselves be called Master because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father, he who is in heaven.

 Nor should you be called leader, because Christ is the only lead­er for you.  Let the greatest among you be the servant of all.  For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Mismatch

A priest began his homily thus: “I am ashamed to preach what I do not practice. However, if I were to preach what I practice, it would be far more embarrassing and I would be doubly ashamed.”

Rare are the spiritual leaders whose words and deeds match perfectly. Only of Jesus can we say of being “Word incarnate”; everyone else falls short, more or less.

This awareness must produce two results: the leader must become humbly aware of this mismatch between his or her words and deeds and seek God’s Grace on a continual basis to bridge the gap; and the recipients of the ministry must look at him or her with compassion and understanding, and as Jesus advices today, must listen to their words while not necessarily imitating their actions.

For imitation, the  model of Jesus must suffice. We must also pray for the leaders as well as for ourselves, for we too fall short.

 

    

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

 ~~~    ST.BERNARD    ~~~