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2 Thessalonians 2:1-3a, 14-17
We ask you, brothers and sisters,
with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our assembling with him,
not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly,
or to be alarmed either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement,
or by a letter allegedly from us
to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.
Let no one deceive you in any way.
To this end he has also called you through our Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm
and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught,
either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them
in every good deed and word.
Ps 96:10, 11-12, 13
R./ The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Say among the nations: The Lord is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R./ The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.
R./ The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Before the Lord, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R./ The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Matthew 23:23-26
Jesus said:
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean."
Truthful, authentic, genuine God,
you are the truth in its fullness.
Immerse us in your truth,
that we may emerge as truthful persons
who do not bother about outward appearances
but live in the likeness of Jesus Christ, your Son.
Thus, make it possible for us to live
in communion with one another in mutual trust,
one in his Spirit,
today and every day and for ever.
Introduction to the First Reading
Paul is aware that his Thessalonians are in danger of becoming an end-of-the-world sect, something we understand easily in the light of the many similar sects appearing among us today. Paul invites them to look serenely at the traditions of the early Church about the end of the world which Paul had brought to them. Jesus comes not to end the world but to bring us another world of justice and mercy.
Introduction to Gospel Reading
There is always the danger that religions turn into a kind of ritualism that imposes practices of little meaning as if they were the saving factors. Ritualism and rubricism is still raising its ugly head even after Vatican II. How ridiculous, almost superstitious! Equally ridiculous because it is empty, is a religion that professes to have faith but minimizes or shuns religious practices. Be sure that with this attitude quite rampant in our time, true faith disappears.
– For missionaries and all who proclaim the faith, that their own lifestyle be a strong argument to follow Jesus Christ, we pray:
– For all apostles and prophets in the Church, that their personal encounter with the Lord may give them the power to speak for what is right and good, we pray:
– For us, that we may learn to care little for outward display but for the things that matter: honesty, justice, and love, we pray:
Lord our God,
you could not give us a more truthful sign
than this bread and this wine;
here you show us again and again
how much you love us in your Son, Jesus Christ.
Let this sign of your truthfulness
imprint on us an indelible mark,
that all may see that his Spirit lives among us,
today and every day, for ever.
Lord our God,
you show us in Jesus, your Son,
the way, the truth, and the life.
Let him accompany us on the road
and teach us your truthfulness,
that we may live as authentic persons
in a genuine community of brothers and sisters
where it is good to live in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
today and for ever.
Let us, as Jesus recommends, pay attention first of all to the important matters of the law: to justice and mercy, faith and love. The rest will follow easily. May Almighty God bless you all, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
