Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, priest and martyr

(Ezekiel 9:1-7.10:18-22; Matthew 18:15-20)

Bishop Robert Barron believes that right worship matters most in life as it does in the Bible.  He says when humans worship God duly, everything else falls into place.  But when they fail to worship the one, true God, their lives likely fall apart.  Today’s first reading from the prophet Ezekiel shows this breakup taking place.

Ezekiel is permitted to see the occurrences in Jerusalem from his exile in Babylon.  The Lord is scourging His people for having followed false gods to the extent of placing idols in the Temple.  Now the impious are being slain with their cadavers piling up in the Temple completing its defilement.  Meanwhile, those who have shunned the defilement are being protected.

We give right praise when we keep holy the Lord’s Day and give thanks to Him every day.  Right praise is also a matter of not defiling our bodies, which have become temples of the Holy Spirit, by excess of material pleasure.  Right praise is acknowledging that the Lord is the source of our life and its completion.

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