We are in the last weeks of our present liturgical year. We are four weeks away from the beginning of Advent, from the new liturgical year which begins on December 3. Advent is not only a time when we prepare for Christmas and for the birth of Jesus into our world, but it is a season where we look into our hearts in a special way to see those ways we need to turn away from sin and to receive renewal and conversion in our lives. Today’s readings get us thinking about these themes, about how we need to repent and amend our ways, to look at those things that are eroding our faith, that keep us from growing in our relationship with Christ.
The prophet Malachi spoke to the people of Ancient Israel in the 5th century BC, just a generation or two after the Israelites returned from exile. At that time, the people had once again turned their backs on God. Many Israelites had married outside of their faith and had turned to the worship of foreign idols. Malachi is direct in his message, as he identifies the sins of the people and of their priests. Malachi tells them that it’s not enough to go through the motions of religious rituals if they are doing so for their own glory and to make themselves look good in the eyes of others and the eyes of God.
Just as Malachi is direct with the people, Jesus is very bold in addressing the Pharisees and the Scribes in today’s Gospel. Jesus saw them not only leading many of the faithful astray, but also saw them taking the glory that was due God, and in a very sneaky, hypocritical way, turning it into their own glory. In contrast to the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus warns us about, I bet we can all think of those who have been examples of faith for us, who truly have lived and served for the glory of God, who have led us closer to the faith rather than leading us astray. When I was in Ecuador serving as a missionary, I saw so many priests and nuns who had left their home countries in order to serve the poor throughout this vast jungle region of South America. I met one elderly nun from Italy named Sister Gemma; she had been there in the jungle for almost forty years. Even though she had gone through many difficulties and challenges, I was struck by the love, grace, and humility through which she served the Lord as a missionary. She never drew attention to herself, she never announced to others how great she was. She knew that God called her as a missionary, as his servant, so she served him simply and humbly, through patience, perseverance, and hard work. That is so different from the message we see in the Pharisees and scribes, who follow all the laws of the faith, but who do so rigidly and dogmatically. In flaunting the way they take the seats of honor, in drawing attention to themselves and lording their power over others, the scribes and Pharisees really are serving only themselves.
Let us look at a very different example. Our psalmist humbly comes before the Lord this morning, telling him: My heart is not proud, Lord. My eyes are not haughty. I don’t spend my time trying to accomplish great things. I don’t not worry about those things that are too complicated or sublime for me. Instead, the psalmist declares that he has found his peace with the Lord, that his hope is in the Lord both now and forever.
Back in 1953, Sir Emund Hillary of New Zealand and his Cherpa guide Tenzing Norgay of Nepal were the first humans to set foot on the mountain peak of Mt Everest. Since then, many have died trying to scale that mountain, including 17 who have died during the 2023 climbing season, the highest fatalities in one year. Hillary and Norgay reacted very differently to this remarkable achievement. Hillary reacted by planting a flag of conquest on top of the mountain peak. However, Norgay knelt in the snow in order to beg the mountain’s forgiveness for disturbing her peace. It doesn’t take long for us to figure out who was able to glimpse the divine presence at that moment on the mountaintop.
In September 2016, Pope Francis reached outside of our Catholic faith to bring the message of God’s love to the world. He convened religious leaders from all over the world to Assisi, Italy, the hometown of St Francis of Assisi, to stress the importance of all of us working together for world peace, including the way all of the worlds religions should be praying for peace. Pope Francis followed in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in convening these religious leaders in Assisi. On those occasions, leaders from Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, traditional African religions, and from different Protestant faiths, all pledged to work toward dialogue, justice, peace, and friendship. In a world where many acts of terrorism and violence have been perpetuated in the name of God and in the name of different religions, a world day of prayer for peace tells the world what all these faith traditions truly stand for.
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