St. Teresa of Avila. virgin & doctor 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Romans 4:1-8

 Let us consider Abraham,

Our father in the flesh. What has he found? If Abraham attained righteousness because of his deeds, he could be proud. But he cannot be this before God. Because Scripture says: Abra­ham believed God who took it into account and held him to be a just man.

 Now, when someone does a work, salary is not given as a favor, but as a debt that is paid. Here, on the contrary, someone who has no deeds to show but believes in Him who makes sinners righteous before him: such faith is taken into account and that person is held as righteous. 

David congratulates in this way those who become righteous by the favor of God, and not by their actions: Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven and whose offenses are forgotten; blessed the one whose sin God does not take into account!

 

Ps 32:1b-2, 5, 11

I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble. And you fill me with the joy of salvation.

 

 ＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊    

Luke 12:1-7

 Meanwhile, such a numerous crowd had gathered that they crushed one another. Then Jesus spoke to his disciples in this way,

“Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered that will not be uncovered, or hidden that will not be made known. Whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places, will be proclaimed from the housetops.

 I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who put to death the body and af­ter that can do no more. But I will tell you whom to fear: Fear the One who after killing you is able to throw you into hell. This one you must fear.

Don’t you get five sparrows for two pennies? Yet not one of them has been forgotten by God. Even the hairs of your head have been numbered. So do not fear: are you not worth more than a flock of sparrows?

 

 Gospel Reflection：

In this gospel, the disciples are worried that they have no bread. Yet Jesus is talking of something else, the yeast that makes the bread rise. But in this particular passage, it is not the physical yeast but that which puffs up the Pharisees.

It is their pride as leaders, who fail to respond to their people’s needs. And Jesus further instructs them not to be intimidated by these kind of leaders. They may have temporary power over life and death here on earth, but that is fleeting and transitory.

Their reach is limited. They can do harm to the body but is impotent beyond the realm of material things. There only God is powerful. There, God can right the wrong and punish the evil doers.

So in the end, we must fear only God, and Him alone. This fear is not a psychological fear but a heart that does not want to be wrong in front of a dearly beloved. For only God has dominion over the living and the dead.