28th Week in Ordinary Time
17th October 2023 (Tuesday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week 4
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Romans 1:16-25
Brethren: I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5 (R. 2a)
R/. The heavens declare the glory of God.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. The word of God is living and active, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Luke 11:37-41
At that time: While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Highlight: Interiorly clean?
Guidlines: Openness to truth leads to acceptance in faith and that leads to life in righteousness and this leads to salvation{alertSuccess}
1. In human life, there is always the tension between the exterior and the interior, the exterior purity, and the interior purity. In religious circles, this struggle often leads to conflict and dichotomy, which eventually leads to mutual exclusion.
2. In simple details, it means that the external rituals and spiritual activities fail to foster inner purity. They are meant to cleanse a person’s heart and life. They are meant to make a person pure.
3. But the sad thing is, very often the religious rituals and devotional practices fail to touch and change the interior. They remain only at the surface level. This was the real failure of the Pharisees and scribes. They cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but the inside is full of extortion and wickedness. The external ablutions are meant to indicate and induce interior purification. Just as the cup and dish are cleansed, so also our minds must be cleansed.
4. All this contradiction and failure is due to the lack of deep faith. A deep faith implies an openness to truth, the truth of God and oneself. It is to realize God’s inalienable role in our life and a total belonging to him.
5. It is to realize the futility and senselessness of our thinking and pursuits without due space for God. It is not to fall prey to lust and impurities. It is not to deify merely earthly and worldly and dethrone God. True faith includes righteousness. And faith without righteousness forfeits salvation.
Practice: Knowing the truth and being truthful; Accepting in faith and remaining faithful, understanding the right, and becoming righteous are true signs of integrity. True integrity is a harmony of the exterior and interior purity{alertSuccess}