Wednesday 27 August 2025
St Monica
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13. You have searched me and you know me, Lord – Ps 138(139):7-12. Matthew 23:27-32.
Remember what is truly sacred
Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel isn’t impressed with the scribes and Pharisees, labelling them ‘hypocrites’ and ‘blind guides’.
While Matthew’s Gospel likely expresses the rising discontent between early Christian and Jewish communities, the observations – expressed scathingly by Jesus – remind us not to forget what is truly sacred. Jesus is highly critical of the valuing of the gold around the sanctuary when it comes to making oaths.
He makes clear that the gold is only precious because the altar made it so. Whatever adorned the altar – gold, wood, plaster, parchment – is only sacred because of what it mediates and who it points to – to God and the one who is close to God.
Our closeness with God does not rely on signs of material wealth. Perhaps instead, we draw closer to God’s presence and promise to us in the face of a stranger, in the road ahead, in a flower opening its petals, in the power of the ocean, and in the silence.
Email this Print This Page
