Saturday 25th August, 2012
St Louis IX; St Joseph Calasanz. Ezekiel 43:1–7. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land—Ps 84(85):9–14. Matthew 23:1–12.

  
Meditation: mp3 | podcast
Readings: Text | mp3 | podcast

Jesus is constantly urging his followers to lead lives of simplicity, humility and service.

In today’s gospel, he urges them to follow the teaching of their religious leaders, but not to imitate their bombast and hypocrisy. It is hard to believe today that the self-serving parade of piety that Jesus describes the Pharisees as practising would attract anything but scorn, derision and outright laughter. Times have changed! The life of Jesus shows that true holiness means being part of the community he served, keeping close to God, his father, and teaching, unlike the Pharisees, by both word and example.

Let us learn from him who is gentle and humble of heart.