Memorial of Saint Augustine

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you tithe mint, and anise, and cummin, and have left the weightier things of the law; judgment, and mercy, and faith. These things you ought to have done, and not to leave those undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness.

Thou blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside may become clean.
Matthew 23:23-26 (Douay-Rheims)

Prayer

Dear Father I sometimes wonder if we are similar to the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus is aiming at in this reading. Do we collect as they do and not remember what you truly call us to, judgement, mercy and faith. All too often we gather money, collect our pays but forget about those less fortunate than us. We use judgement to avoid doing what is right, we show mercy when it makes us look good, and our faith is not as visible as it should be. I find myself wondering when have I not payed so much attention to what I make and bring home. I wonder if I judge on what I see rather than what I feel coming from the Spirit of God. And last of all, is my faith visible that I may light the way for a lost soul. Have I cleansed my interior self as much as I clean the outside of me. The inside is just as important, if not more so. May I reflect on what Jesus has said and bring it to my life and live his message. Not so much to judge in the way of judging, but to have mercy and faith. To use the right judgement when the time allows to do so in taking care of matters that regard mercy and faith to bring us ever closer to you. Amen