Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Readings for Tuesday, August 23/ St. Rose of Lima:
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Psalm 139:1-6
Matthew 23:23-26

"That is how we speak, not as trying to please men, but rather God, who judges our hearts."

In the realm of Spiritual Theology, we speak of a number of 'ends' of man, things that we are tending towards; goals, in a sense.We hopefully have regular goals of striving for one virtue or another and eliminating some vice that we find in ourselves, but these are all oriented towards a greater goal - holiness. In the gospel today we find the Lord challenging the Scribes and Pharisees because they lack holiness. They do a little bit here and there but miss the main point. They don't know the real goal but simply settle for the things that please themselves. In stark contrast we find Paul speaking to the Thessalonians about his intention to speak so as to please God rather than to focus on pleasing men. Here we find one who has the goal in sight: glorifying God. This is our ultimate end or goal. We were created to glorify God and we do this by being saints in heaven. We become saints by being living witnesses of God's holiness in this life on Earth. Pray that we all might keep our eyes on the true goal and not settle for anything less. 

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