HOMILY FOR 31ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I
HOMILY FOR 31ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I
THEME: Dressing for Success?
BY: Deacon Bill Frere
Gospel – Matthew 23:1-12
Street Scene, Jerusalem
Almost 8 years ago, my deacon-to-be classmates and myself gathered together to be fitted and measured for our diaconal vestments. Putting on stoles and dalmatics for essentially the first time was a wonderful and exhilarating experience; there were a lot of smiles that day. And I admit there was a moment or two when we pranced around like little kids and admired ourselves in the mirror. But there quickly came a sense of humility as reality began to sink in. We were barely 2 months away from ordination as Permanent Deacons and we were fully aware that it takes so much more than fancy vestments to make a Deacon!
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Unfortunately the Pharisees in today’s Gospel missed that point!
Just a little background! We hear the word ‘phylacteries’ today. Phylacteries were little leather boxes, about the size of a matchbox. They were attached to a leather strap and devout Jewish males would wear them, wrapping the straps around their forehead and their left arm. Inside the box would be a small scroll with a passage from the Torah. It was meant to symbolize that the Word of God was always before their eyes and close to their hearts. Tassels would hang down from their prayer shawls, kind of like the tassels at the end of my cincture that is wrapped around my alb and my waist.
Jesus is condemning the Pharisees for widening their phylacteries, making them bigger and bigger, more noticeable, and for lengthening their tassels, making them larger, more elaborate. They are dressing for appearances, to draw attention to themselves, not their faith. Their works are performed to be seen and noticed, not to be imitated or practiced or followed! All show and no substance. No humility, only pride!
The longer the tassels, the larger the phylacteries the better, the easier to be seen and admired! Popularity and recognition were more important than service. Looking good rated higher than doing good. Humility, for the Pharisees, was in short supply as they focus on outward appearances instead of what is in their hearts.
And that is the challenge for us today – keeping up appearances is ultimately shallow and unfulfilling. We live to love and serve God and our neighbor. How we dress matters little! How fancy the clothes, how expensive they are! What really matters is what is going on inside, in our hearts, our soul! How we treat others! How we love our neighbors! How we serve others! How we reach out to those in need! How we practice what we preach!
This is our faith! We are called to display it, not on our foreheads or with our clothes, but in our hearts and in our actions.
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