Gospel: August 23, 2025
August 23, 2025 (Saturday)
20th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 4 (Green/White)
Blessed Virgin Mary
St. Rose of Lima, virgin
Ps 128:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
1st Reading: Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17
Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have sat down on the chair of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say; but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even lift a finger to move them. They do everything in order to be seen by people: they wear very wide bands of the law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first places at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and they like being greeted in the marketplace, and being called ‘Master’ by the people. But you, do not let yourselves be called Master, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father, he who is in heaven. Nor should you be called Leader, because Christ is the only Leader for you. Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.
Reflection:
“Whoever humbles himself shall be made great.”
Saint Rose of Lima was baptized Isabel, after her grandmother, but her beauty was extraordinary, even miraculous, with different accounts describing a rose appearing over her cot or her face looking momentarily like the flower, and so she was known as Rose. With its beautiful blooms and thorns, the rose has become symbolic of both love and suffering, and it is an appropriate image of the life of Rose of Lima, who both suffered and loved greatly. At a time when Peru was very socially divided, Rose’s heart made no distinction between race, color or class. Like the Pharisees, many of the nobles would have taken the places of honor and been called Master, but Rose walked a penitential path which increased her love and humility, prompting her to set up an interracial infirmary to serve the poor and sick. The Pharisees kept apart from those whom they considered to be ritually unclean. Similarly, the high and mighty would have performed acts of charity by giving alms, but they would not have gone in person to help. For Rose, there were no such barriers. Saint Rose, united to God and close to the needy, make our hearts burn with love.
