St. Hedwig, religious  

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Romans 2: 1-11

Therefore, you have no excuse, who­ever you are, if you are able to judge others.

For in judging your neighbor, you condemn yourself, for you practice what you are judging.  We know that the condemnation of God will justly reach those who commit these things,   and do you think that by condemning others you will escape from the judgment of God, you who are doing the same?

 This would be taking advantage of God and his infinite goodness, patience and understand­ing, and not to realize that his goodness is in order to lead you to conversion.   If your heart becomes hard and you refuse to change, then you are storing for yourself a great punishment on the day of judgment, when God will appear as just judge.

 He will give each one his due, according to his actions. He will give everlasting life to those who seek glory, honor and immortality and persevere in doing good.   But anger and vengeance will be the lot of those who do not serve truth but injustice.

 There will be suffering and anguish for everyone committing evil, first the Jew, then the Greek. But God will give glory, honor and peace to whoever does good, first the Jew then the Greek,   because one is not different from the other before God.

 

Ps  62  Lord, you give back to everyone according to his works. 

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊‧

Luke 11: 42-46

 A curse is on you, Pharisees; To the Temple you give a tenth of all, including mint and rue and the other herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. these ought to be practiced, without neglecting the other obligations.

 A curse is on you, Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace. A curse is on you for you are like tombstones of the dead which can hardly be seen; people don’t notice them and make themselves unclean by stepping on them.”

 Then a teacher of the Law spoke up and said, “Master, when you speak like this, you insult us, too.”   And Jesus answered, “A curse is on you also, teachers of the Law. For you prepare unbearable burdens and load them on the people, while you yourselves don’t move a finger to help them.

 

Reflection gospel：

“YOU NEGLECT JUSTICE AND THE LOVE OF GOD.”

You know what I fear most as a priest? That I will fail to hear the Word of God correctly and miss to lead the people to God well! Despite some bits of controversies, we priests still enjoy a lot of attention and care. there are “privileges” reserved only to us priests that even well-known political figures do not enjoy.

We are more than celebrities. Even in small and far-flung communities it is not difficult to see the prominence that people assign to our stature: they greet us, they kiss our hands with reverence, some even make the sign of the cross when they see us, some bow before us, they make us occupy the head of the table, they make us eat first, they serve us food instead of us lining up waiting for our turn, they set aside particular dishes meant only for us, and there are others who would not mind sacrificing their convenience for our sake.

I find it alarming and dangerous when the time will come that I will forget why I am a priest. I find it even more frightening leaving this world and facing Christ not having lived as a priest. And so I am grateful that in spite of the prestige I enjoy as a priest, there have been a number of lay people who served the role of Christ in my life reminding me of who I am and what I must do.  完