Saturday in the Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time, August 26, 2023

Matthew 23, 1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

“The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you.”  In today’s Gospel Reading, the Lord seems to support the teaching authority the Pharisees and the scribes (who tended to belong to the Pharisees) have assumed for themselves.  And though they interpret the Law in their own way and to the detriment of the Law’s original intent, following their teachings on the Law, whether in regards to their many ceremonial washings or their understanding of what could and could not be done on the Sabbath, they did not directly contradict the Law.  They may make obedience to the Law onerous, but they do not teach against it.  Therefore, it is safe for the people to follow their instructions.  The Lord takes it upon himself to speak up to them on the burdens their interpretations lay upon the people and he explains to them the original intent of the Law, but the Lord never breaks it.  It is, after all, the Law he created.  “But do not follow their example.”  We learn best when words are accompanied by demonstrations.  We need to see a thing in order to really understand it.  What does “love of neighbor” really mean?  Unless the phrase is connected with the concrete, it remains an abstraction.  No matter how lengthy a treatise on the words may be, it sticks only in the intellect and does not become a subject for action.  If a world-class gymnast attempts to explain in a classroom how the uneven parallel bars are used, she will not succeed in conveying the experience.  It needs demonstration.  The Lord insists that the people make a distinction between the teachings on the Law they hear and the actions of the Pharisees which they see.  This is not easy to do.  How do we learn to fast of the one who teaches about fasting is always eating at fine restaurants?  All the more virtuous, then, are those who strive to carry out the fasting laws without good example.

And how necessary it is for us to teach the Gospel both with our words and with our actions.  The Lord himself sets the example of love of God and neighbor with his works of charity and his zeal for souls.  He teaches us too with words, and illustrates them with vivid, unforgettable parables.  He continues today to illustrate his teachings with the lives of his holy ones, making people such as Mother Teresa a walking Gospel.  

Against the poor example of the Pharisees who are more interested in being accorded titles than living up to them, the Lord says, “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.”  A student or disciple would refer to his master as his father even as the master would refer to his student as his son.  But God is our teacher, speaking through his chosen instruments.  He is our Father.  When we address others as “father”, we do so in a derivative way.  This even includes our biological fathers, for it is God who creates us and gives us life with the cooperation of his instruments.  And those who nourish us with his teachings and his Sacraments are called “father” as well, for they too are given a share in God’s fatherly care for us.

“The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”  “Fatherhood” and the office of teacher are positions of service.  God gives them certain authority so that they may possess what they need in order to serve.  The Lord Jesus is the “greatest” of all and we see that he chose to reign from the throne of a Cross, serving us in the most profound way by dying for our salvation.  And for this he was exalted: “For which cause, God indeed has exalted him and has given him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11).  Let us, then, gladly take our positions as servants, directing friends and strangers alike to his Kingdom through the words and actions he directs us to say and do.