Homily for 28 August 2024 - Wednesday of the 21st week
Memory of Saint Augustine
Homily
Dear brothers,
Jesus' long list of curses against the Pharisees at the end of Matthew's Gospel has been divided into three blocks in the ferial lectionary, distributed among the first three days of the 21st week of Ordinary Time. (The authors of the lectionary no doubt thought it would be a little indigestible to have them all on the same day!)
What Jesus reproaches the Pharisees for is above all their hypocrisy, in other words the mismatch between what they are and the impression they try to give of themselves. And this reminds us of the importance of truth and simplicity in our Christian and monastic life. We are who we are before God, with our qualities and our faults, our abilities and our limitations, and we know that we are loved by Him just as we are - and called by Him to grow and grow. Whenever we are preoccupied with what others think of us, trying to impress them with our qualities while hiding our limitations, we are still a long way from that truth and simplicity which is the essence of monastic life.
Today, as the first reading of Mass, we conclude the reading of Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians. And in this conclusion, we have a fine example of Paul's great simplicity - of a Paul who knows how to recognise his weaknesses, just as he knows how not only to recognise what he does well but also sometimes to give himself as an example on this or that point, as he does here. It sometimes takes great humility not to be afraid of appearing pretentious. Paul does not hesitate to say to the Thessalonians: ‘imitate me’. And the example he wants to give them here is that of a person who strives not to be a burden to anyone, and to support himself by his own work, while devoting himself totally to the service of the community by preaching the Gospel.
This is in full conformity with Paul's constant teaching in his letters to the various Churches he founded or to which he preached the Word of God: The foundation of community life is that each one seeks not what is best for himself, but what is good for others, and where each is at the service of all. Let us ask for the grace to always live this ideal of fraternity.
Armand Veilleux