Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
STS. PERPETUA AND FELICITY, Martyrs
Today we celebrate two women martyrs from Carthage, North Africa. Perpetua was a noblewoman, Felicity a slave girl. Both were arrested in a raid on Christians. Each had recently given birth and the Roman authorities tried to use their first newborn babies as hostages to force them to renounce their faith, but both refused. Their faith was dearer to them than even their most cherished possession. With remarkable serenity they went to their heroic death.
Reading 1: Is 1:10, 16-20
you Sodom-schooled leaders.
Receive God’s revelation,
you Gomorrah-schooled people.
“Quit your worship charades.
I can’t stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
You’ve worn me out!
I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion,
while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
I’ll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
I’ll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
so I don’t have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless.
“Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.”
This is God’s Message:
“If your sins are blood-red,
they’ll be snow-white.
If they’re red like crimson,
they’ll be like wool.
If you’ll willingly obey,
you’ll feast like kings.
But if you’re willful and stubborn,
you’ll die like dogs.”
That’s right. God says so.
Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12
Prayer
Lord our God,
you inspire with remarkable courage
those who put all their trust in you.
On this celebration of your holy martyrs
Saints Perpetua and Felicity
we pray you for the strength
to hold you dearer than anything else.
Let nothing stand between you and us,
nothing separate us from you,
for you are our living and loving God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reflection:
7 March 2023
Matthew 23:1-12
An act of charity is not for public display
“Do observe what they tell you, but do not follow their example!” Who are these “they?” When we read the bible, we tend to believe that Jesus is talking about someone, not me. The Pharisees, the scribes … the religious leaders of the time preached a distorted face of God to the people. They preached the scripture well but failed to live what they preached.
Today’s Gospel calls on us – preachers of the Word of God – to introspect. Jesus challenged the religious leaders of his time, and the Gospel today continues to challenge the religious leaders of the present time. How often do we come across pastors who love to be addressed as reverend or doctor and fill their name cards with a long list of academic achievements? When I prepare my sermons and reflections, I am afraid I prepare them for those listening to me but fail to live what I preach.
The Gospel challenges us today: Are the good things or works of charity that we have done, for public display, so that people may appreciate us for what we did? Social media updates too often are self-advertisements of our social or economic status, achievements and charity works. The humanitarian crisis on account of wars and calamities around the world has helped us in the recent past to be at our generous best by extending our generous support and reaching out to our needy brethren. But, at times, have these moments of generosity not turned into occasions of self-promotion? Social media platforms get flooded with stories and photos of our ‘acts of charity.’
Pope Francis explains today’s passage by reiterating the command of Jesus to serve and not to be served. He said (in his Homily in Havana, on 20 September 2015): “Serving means caring … for the vulnerable of our families, our society, our people. We all are called to set aside our wishes and desires, our pursuit of power – before the concrete gaze of the most vulnerable…. Service always looks at their faces, touches their flesh, senses their closeness and even sometimes ‘suffers’ that closeness and tries to help them. Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people.”
In 2014, during the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, the Pope suggested a standard test for a good shepherd. He said, ‘we need shepherds who bear the smell of the sheep’. How good a shepherd am I in the Christian community and in my family? Do I boss over others around…? Lord, help me to imitate you – to serve and not to be served.