The Greatest Is Your Servant

March 02, 2021, Tuesday
Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent (Violet)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
RDGS: IS 1:10. 16-20/ PS 50:8-9. 16-17. 21. 23
GOSPEL: MT 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.”

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

The Pharisees get a hard time from Jesus because he is trying to draw them away from trivialities to something deeper—a dynamic relationship with the living God. Is there anything of the Pharisee in me? Do I live for show, always worried about what others think of me? Am I superficial, flitting from one thing to the next, while ignoring the calls of God in the depth of my heart to something richer and more satisfying?

PRAYER:

Lord, you pick out the manifestations of vanity and self-importance. ‘You are all students’, you say. In the mysterious way that scripture works, I am growing daily in the knowledge of God's ways. You, Lord, are my teacher.