『Jesus tells us that Christians should seek simply to serve rather than to get high titles.』

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Isaiah 1:10, 16-20

Hear the warning of Yahweh,rulers of Sodom. 

Listen to the word of God, people of Gomorrah.”  Wash and make yourselves clean. Remove from my sight the evil of your deeds. Put an end to your wickedness  and learn to do good. Seek justice and keep in line the abusers; give the fatherless their rights and defend the widow.”

 “Come,” says the Lord, “let us reason together. Though your sins be like scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they be as crimson red, they will be white as wool.

 If you will obey me, you will eat the goods of the earth;  but if you resist and rebel, the sword will eat you instead.” Truly the Lord has spoken.

 

Ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 & 23

To the upright, I will show the saving power of God.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Matthew 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples. "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have sat down on the chair of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say; but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say.

They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even lift a finger to move them. They do everything in order to be seen by people: they wear very wide bands of the law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels.

They enjoy the first places at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and they like being greeted in the marketplace, and being called 'Master' by the people.

But you, do not let yourselves be called Master, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father, he who is in heaven.

Nor should you be called Leader, because Christ is the only Leader for you. Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.

 

Gospel Reflection：

An Offer We Can't Refuse

Borrowing the famous line from the movie The Godfather, I must confess that, in today's first reading, God makes us an offer we can't refuse! He invites us to reason together with Him! But how can we, wretched mortals, reason with God, the highest Good?

Where do we begin, if at all we can? Mercifully, it is He who begins for us, that too, with a delightful promise of cancelling all our debts and making us clean as a whistle! His is an offer full of life; totally unlike the death-threat in The Godfather!

What kind of dialog we invite others to –  be it between nations at the United Nations or neighbors or religions –  I am afraid our dialogue is often Godfather-like: force-fitting the other into our terms and holding them to ransom. It should ideally be like that of God-the-Father: a unilateral declaration of amnesty so that the other comes to the table with a joyous spring in their step.