Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

(Isaiah 1:10.16-20; Matthew 23:1-12)

 In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus wages a war on hypocrisy.  He emphasized it in the Sermon on the Mount where he warned his disciples not to fast, pray, or give alms for show.  In today’s passage he critiques the Pharisees for not practicing what they preach, a sign of hypocrisy. 

Then Jesus tells his disciples that they are brothers and sisters to one another.  As such, no is to assume greater respect or honor than anyone else.  He becomes specific when he says that they are not to call one another, “Rabbi,” “teacher,” “master,” or “father.”  These titles are used among the Pharisees to covet honor. 

We in the Church have not taken Jesus literally here.  Teachers inside the Church abound.  Priests are almost universally called “Father.”  Because these transgressions have a long tradition and often give comfort to those who seek spiritual wisdom, they may be readily forgiven.  But clericalism – the pretension that priests are better and more deserving of honor than lay persons – remains a tragic sin.  It is tragic because Orders is a sacrament of service, not of domination.  It is a sin because it subverts the unity Jesus intends among his disciples.