Gospel: August 27, 2025
August 27, 2025 (Wednesday)
21st Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 1 / (White)
St. Monica
Ps 139:7-8, 9-10, 11-12ab
You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
1st Reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
Gospel: Matthew 23:27-32
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, beautiful in appearance; but, inside, there are only dead bones and uncleanness. In the same way, you appear religious to others, but you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness within. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets, and decorate the monuments of the righteous. You say: Had we lived in the time of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets. So, you, yourselves, confess to be the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. And now, finish off what your ancestors began.
Reflection:
“Raised to new life by Christ.”
Saint Paul describes his tireless efforts for the church in Thessalonica, like a father concerned for the welfare of his children. Similarly, Saint Monica worried and fretted over the spiritual well-being of her son Augustine, who struggled to find truth and happiness in philosophy, religion and sexual relationships, before finally coming to Christ. Saint Monica has become renowned for her tears, a symbol of her constant preoccupation for her son, that he might become a Catholic Christian. It was the knowledge of this that brought her peace in her dying days, but during Augustine’s wild years she was also comforted by the Lord with a vision that her son would one day stand with her in the faith. Augustine observes that Monica’s tears were like the tears of the widow of Nain, whose weeping moved Christ so much that he raised her son from the dead. Likewise, Augustine, who had been living an empty existence was raised to new life by Christ. Let’s pray for all mothers today, who worry about their children. May the Lord comfort all anxious mothers and be moved to draw to his heart all who have wandered far from him.
