Lesson – 3 Kings xvii. 8‒16
In those days the word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying, “Arise and go to Sarephta of the Sidonians and dwell there, for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed you.” He arose and went to Sarephta, and when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her, “Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying, “Bring me also, I beseech you, a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she answered, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruse; behold I am gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it, for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” And Elias said to her, “Fear not, but go and do as you have said; but first make for me of the same meal a little heart cake and bring it to me; and after make for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The pot of meal will not waste, nor the cruse of oil be diminished, until the day on which the Lord will give rain on the face of the earth.’” She went and did according to the word of Elijah, and he ate, and she, and her house. And from that day the pot of meal wasted not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elijah.Thanks be to God.
Gospel – Matthew xxiii. 1‒12
At that time, Jesus spoke to the multitudes and his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have sat on the chair of Moses. All things therefore whatever they will say to you, observe and do; but do not do according to their works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens and lay them on mens’ shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them. And all their works they do for to be seen by men, for they make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes. And they love the first places at feasts and the first chairs in the synagogues, and salutations in the market place, and to be called by men Rabbi. But be not you called Rabbi; for one is your master, and all you are brethren. And call none your father on earth, for one is your father, who is in heaven; neither be called masters; for one is your master, Christ. He that is the greatest among you will be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he that will humble himself will be exalted.”Praise be to you, O Christ.
Saint Jerome:
Was there ever man gentler and kinder than the Lord? The Pharisees tempted Him; their craft was confounded, and, in the words of the Psalmist, “The arrows of babes have pierced them,” (Psalm lxiii. 8) and nevertheless, because of the dignity of their Priesthood and name, He exhorts the people to be subject to them, by doing according to their words, though not according to their works. By the words “Moses’ seat” we are to understand the teaching of the law. Thus also must we mystically take, “Sits in the seat of the scornful,” (Psalm i. 1) and likewise, “overthrew the seats of them that sold doves,” (Matthew xxi. 10) to describe doctrine.
“For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” This is generally directed against all teachers who command things hard, and themselves do not even things easy. But it is to be remarked that the “shoulders,” the “fingers,” and the “binding” of the burdens, have a spiritual interpretation. “But all their works they do for to be seen of men.” Whoever therefore does anything for to be seen of men, the same is, so far, a Scribe and a Pharisee.
“They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi.” Woe to us miserable sinners who have inherited the vices of the Pharisees! When the Lord had given the commandments of the law to Moses He added afterwards: “You will bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they will be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deuteronomy vi. 8). The sense of these words is: “My Law will be in your hand to order whatever you do, and ever before your eyes that you may meditate therein day and night.” But the Pharisees, by a bad interpretation, were accustomed to write on pieces of parchment the Decalogue of Moses, that is, the Ten Words of the Law, and to tie these pieces of parchment, plaited in a peculiar manner, on their foreheads, so as to make a sort of crown round their heads, which projected in front of their eyes, and always moved before them.
