Churches, Jubilees and Hypocrisy
Celebrating the Basilica of Mary Major - 5th August, 2017
Lev 25: 1,8-17; Mt 14:1-12
The first reading speaks of another Jubilee, that the Lord wanted the people of Israel to commemorate. We get the mind of God so clearly - jubilee according to the Lord is not merely eating and drinking, the glory of the Lord in a Church is not merely about the pomp and splendour, our true faith is not in the richness of the tradition or in the complexity of heritage - it is in the compassion we have for others and the personal integrity that we manifest in ourselves.
This is what Jesus loathed in Herod. Jesus had hardly any respect for him because he lacked integrity. He lived a life that was so far from God, from good and from truth! Building spectacular churches, celebrating splendid jubilees and organising fantastic festivities - these will remain empty noise, or hardcore hypocrisy, if we do not commit ourselves to compassion and justice!
As we celebrate the feast today, let us ask our Blessed Mother to save us from this hypocrisy and form us into true disciples of Christ, committed to justice, truth and compassion.
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