St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop & martyr 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Romans 3: 21-30

 But, now it has been revealed altogether apart from the Law,

as it was already foretold in the Law and the Prophets:   God makes us righteous by means of faith in Jesus Christ, and this is applied to all who believe, without distinction of per­sons.   

Because all have sinned and all fall short of the Glory of God;  and all are graciously forgiven and made righteous through the redemption effected in Christ Jesus.  For God has given him to be the victim whose blood obtains us forgiveness through faith.

So God shows us how he makes us righteous. Past sins are forgiven which God overlooked till now. For now he wants to reveal his way of righteousness: how he is just and how he makes us righteous through faith in Jesus.

Then what becomes of our pride? It is excluded. How? Not through the Law and its observances, but through another law which is faith.   For we hold that people are in God’s grace by faith and not because of all the things ordered by the Law.

  Otherwise, God would be the God of the Jews; but is he not God of pagan nations as well?   Of course he is, for there is only one God and he will save by faith the circumcised Jews as well as the uncircumcised nations.

 

Ps  130  With the Lord there is mercy. and fullness of redemption.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 11: 47-54

A curse is on you, for you build memorials to the prophets your ancestors killed.   So you approve and agree with what your ancestors did. Is it not so? They got rid of the prophets, and you build monuments to them!

For that reason the wisdom of God also said: I will send prophets and apostles and these people will kill and persecute some of them. But the present generation will have to answer for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,   from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary.

Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will have to answer for them all. A curse is on you, teachers of the Law, for you have taken the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you prevented others from entering.”

As Jesus left that place, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to harass him,  asking him endless questions, setting traps to catch him in something he might say.

 

Reflection gospel：

“A CURSE IS ON YOU, FOR YOU BUILD MONUMENTS TO THE PROPHETS YOUR ANCESTORS KILLED.”

It is unnerving picturing Christ addressing the words, “A curse is on you….” to me. I felt that the words were humiliating rather than humbling. And so I also imagine how unsetting must have been for the teachers of the law and the Pharisees.

They must have felt defamed and disgraced in public. The words appear so harsh and blatant. But surely these words bring to light how profoundly critical it is to mend our ways and what a great challenge it is to follow Christ.

We are not teachers of the law and Pharisees but we have a share in the blunder they have committed: they do the total opposite of what their life is supposed to exhibit. We are Christians and we live un-Christian lives.

Time and again we remember that it is easy to become a Christian but difficult to live as one. It is therefore imperative for us to look at ourselves and examine our lives constantly. As Christians we must live the values and the options of Christ, we must be obedient to his Words, and must always walk along his path.