Panis Angelicus: Seven Woes on The Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

AUGUST 22, 2022, MONDAY

MEMORIAL OF THE QUEENSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (White)

CYCLE C - YEAR II

Lectionary: 425

Reading 1

2 Thes 1:1-5, 11-12

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians

in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

grace to you and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters,

as is fitting, because your faith flourishes ever more,

and the love of every one of you for one another grows ever greater.

Accordingly, we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God

regarding your endurance and faith in all your persecutions

and the afflictions you endure.

This is evidence of the just judgment of God,

so that you may be considered worthy of the Kingdom of God

for which you are suffering.

We always pray for you,

that our God may make you worthy of his calling

and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose

and every effort of faith,

that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,

and you in him,

in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 4-5

R. (3) Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Sing to the LORD a new song;

sing to the LORD, all you lands.

Sing to the LORD; bless his name.

R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Announce his salvation, day after day.

Tell his glory among the nations;

among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.

R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;

awesome is he, beyond all gods.

For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,

but the LORD made the heavens.

R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Alleluia

Jn 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;

I know them, and they follow me.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 23:13-22

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men.

You do not enter yourselves,

nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You traverse sea and land to make one convert,

and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna

twice as much as yourselves.

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say,

'If one swears by the temple, it means nothing,

but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.'

Blind fools, which is greater, the gold,

or the temple that made the gold sacred?

And you say, 'If one swears by the altar, it means nothing,

but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.'

You blind ones, which is greater, the gift,

or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it;

one who swears by the temple swears by it

and by him who dwells in it;

one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God

and by him who is seated on it."

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

Jesus condemns the Pharisees for speaking about what is unknown to them; he was referring, of course, to what was in their hearts, not in their knowledgeable minds. There would be much silence if people spoke only about what they knew about! When it comes to faith, many people speak about what is in their heads. The silent work of God in my prayer defies explanation and suggests discretion - but can I give witness to the working of God in my heart? I don’t want to be like the Pharisees when I speak of faith, letting my head do the talking. I consider how God works in the depth of my being.

Hypocrites were originally actors who wore masks. Thus the term came to mean deceptive persons who pretend to be something that they are not, or those who are ostentatious and pretentious. Jesus tries to strip away all the disguises and facades that we employ. He himself had none: he is open, truthful, genuine, which is why the people loved him “for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:29).

Lord, how do I come across to others: how genuine am I? I speak about loving others, but do my actions correspond? Do I fuss unnecessarily about details, including, perhaps, rubrics? Am I shallow, unfocussed, waiting for something to happen rather than living out the life of grace to the full? Do I fixate on the flaws of others and de-energise those who are trying their best?

PRAYER:

I pray for the community with which I worship; may we never confuse the beautiful things we have or do with their source, but may we grown together in humble service of God.

What is "Panis Angelicus"?

It started from a simple spiritual bible verse on which I mostly posted daily in my personal Facebook account, I've seeing myself realizing the idea what if I will post something different to my audiences sharing my spiritual thoughts/insights in life based on my experiences as a former church servant. Indeed, the world of social media nowadays are full of negativity where many people who are "toxic" in terms of sharing ideas and opinions, on which I personally described. Some people have already forgotten the so-called respect and being open-minded in terms of sharing ideas and opinions on each other. It comes to the point that sometimes we didn't know and feel that we're already crossing the lines causing our egos would probably triggered and even tempered due to our different emotions and expressions. For me, there are lots of causes and reasons why all of these are happen in our society today. Maybe it's because the world nowadays are also under the influence of a so-called millennial traits and other social aspects in life on which other people most especially the youth tend to do unnecessary traits that would make to hurt the feelings of others. By this, some people often forget to show RESPECT to their elder ones and even their parents as well. The new generation of youth today is far different from those times of our lolos and lolas. Even in simple greeting (in a normal traditional Filipino custom of Mano Po) showing your respect to your elders are already forgotten to practice by some of our younger ones and even adults of today. Some people often forget to pray and say the Holy Rosary together with your family every night and even go to church on Sundays to attend holy masses, maybe it is because the people of today are also changing their personal aspects and priorities in life due to power, wealth and pride.

So I decided create this blog page entitled, "Panis Angelicus". This name (Latin for "Bread of Angels" or "Angelic Bread") derived from the penultimate strophe of the hymn "Sacris solemniis" written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the feast of Corpus Christi as part of a complete liturgy of the feast, including prayers for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. It is a collection of spiritual reflections/verses taken from the Daily Readings in the Holy Bible. Aside of spiritual reflections/verses, you'll also read some of my different insights/opinions regarding on the different types of issues that happen in our world today and what would be its connection in terms of talking about the spiritual aspects in life.

By this simple cause on which I usually loved to do during my church days to help other people in the community by means of participating on various community outreach programs organized by the former parish church that I've served, I'm eagerly open my hands to help most especially those people who already reject nor forget GOD as the center of their life by means of educating and enlighten their minds not just in spiritual aspects but also in moral aspects of life that in this world, nobody's perfect and permanent. Feel free to comment on my posts or share your own thoughts. I'd love to hear from you.

Seven Woes on The Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

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