Perfectionism can lead to an overemphasis on having the "right" words or methods,

instead of the relationship itself, and it can create a sense of never being "good enough". 

 

 St. Callistus I, pope and martyr

 ＂In the Lord's hand there is abundance of all things, because He is the Lord of powers and the king of glory. ＂

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊      　

Romans 1:16-25

 For I am not ashamed at all,

Of this Good News; it is God's power, saving those who believe, first, the Jews, and then, the Greeks.

This Good News shows us the saving justice of God; a justice that saves, exclusively by faith, as the Scripture says: The upright one shall live by faith.

 

For the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven, against all ungodliness, and injustice,

of those who have silenced the truth by their wicked ways. For everything that could have been known about God,

was clear to them: God himself made it plain. Because his invisible attributes his everlasting power

and divinity are made visible to reason, by means of his works, since the creation of the world.

 

So they have no excuse, for they knew God, and did not glorify him, as was fitting; nor did they give thanks to him.

On the contrary, they lost themselves in their reasoning, and darkness filled their minds.

Believing themselves wise, they became foolish: they exchanged the glory of the immortal God,

for the likes of mortal human beings, birds, animals and reptiles. Because of this,

God gave them up to their inner cravings; they did shameful things and dishonored their bodies.

  They exchanged God's truth for a lie; they honored and worshiped created things, instead of the Creator, to whom be praise for ever, Amen!

 

Ps 19:2-3, 4-5

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Luke 11:37-41

As Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to have a meal with him. So he went and sat at table.

The Pharisee then wondered why Jesus did not first wash his hands before dinner.

But the Lord said to him, "So then, you Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup and the dish,

but inside yourselves you are full of greed and evil. Fools! He who made the outside,

also made the inside. But according to you, by the mere giving of alms everything is made clean.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"He who made the outside, also made the inside."

Christ is challenging a religion that is reduced to externals.

We are to be wary of losing sight of the purpose of rituals and external actions,

as we might turn them into the goal of our religious practice rather than the means of reaching God.

 

Thomas Merton describes this as turning religious practice into an idol,

which he says is more subtle than materialism but is an idol nonetheless,

as the practice of religion has turned away from focusing on the subject, namely God,

to focusing on an object instead, be that a type of prayer or religious action, and this becomes an end in itself.

 

Thus, Saint Paul's words in the first reading on idol worship also apply to this religion of externals.

In the language of Saint John of the Cross, this is a misuse of religious things,

which prevents our goal of ascending to God. The Pharisees stray into this way of thinking,

which provokes Christ's words of challenge and makes the criticism. What about us?

Do we lose sight of the goal of our prayer and fall into a ritualistic perfectionism?