Join Msgr. Don Fischer as he reads and delivers a short reflection on today’s gospel, followed by 3 1/2 minutes of contemplative music and a closing prayer. Msgr. Don hopes that today’s reflection on the gospel will empower you to carry the Word in your heart throughout the day.

Choose either the video or audio below.

Gospel
Luke 11:42-46

The Lord said:
“Woe to you Pharisees!
You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb,
but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.
These you should have done, without overlooking the others.
Woe to you Pharisees!
You love the seat of honor in synagogues
and greetings in marketplaces.  
Woe to you!
You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”

Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply,
“Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”
And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law!
You impose on people burdens hard to carry,
but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

Reflection
Father, the spirit that you often point out in people who have lost a sense of who they really are in God, clearly seem to be pointing always to the same thing. They don't understand that they are called to love God, and you can't love God unless you know that God loves you. And there we get to the most powerful, potent teaching of the New Testament.

God who condemns in the Old Testament is the God who loves the sinner in the New Testament.

Closing Prayer
Father, we need to have insight. You need to show us the times and the ways in which we are acting out, not love and not forgiveness and not peace, but the opposite. So bless us with attention to who we are, and underscore for us the importance that we need to be filled with your gift, the gift of love for our brothers and sisters. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.