You Have Only One Master

August 21, 2021, Saturday
Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope (White)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
Lectionary: 424

Reading I
Ru 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17

Naomi had a prominent kinsman named Boaz,
of the clan of her husband Elimelech.
Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi,
“Let me go and glean ears of grain in the field
of anyone who will allow me that favor.”
Naomi said to her, “Go, my daughter,” and she went.
The field she entered to glean after the harvesters
happened to be the section belonging to Boaz
of the clan of Elimelech.
Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter!
Do not go to glean in anyone else’s field;
you are not to leave here.
Stay here with my women servants.
Watch to see which field is to be harvested, and follow them;
I have commanded the young men to do you no harm.
When you are thirsty, you may go and drink from the vessels
the young men have filled.”
Casting herself prostrate upon the ground, Ruth said to him,
“Why should I, a foreigner, be favored with your notice?”
Boaz answered her:
“I have had a complete account of what you have done
for your mother-in-law after your husband’s death;
you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth,
and have come to a people whom you did not know previously.”
Boaz took Ruth.
When they came together as man and wife,
the LORD enabled her to conceive and she bore a son.
Then the women said to Naomi,
“Blessed is the LORD who has not failed
to provide you today with an heir!
May he become famous in Israel!
He will be your comfort and the support of your old age,
for his mother is the daughter-in-law who loves you.
She is worth more to you than seven sons!”
Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became his nurse.
And the neighbor women gave him his name,
at the news that a grandson had been born to Naomi.
They called him Obed.
He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Responsorial Psalm
128:1b-2, 3, 4, 5

R. (4) See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.

R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

You wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.

R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.

R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.

R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

Alleluia
Mt 23:9b, 10b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

You have but one Father in heaven;
you have but one master, the Christ.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

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.”

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 knowledge of God's ways. You, Lord, are my teacher.