Daily Scripture Reflection & Prayer: August 26, 2025

Date: Tuesday of the 21^st Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture Text:  Matthew 23:23-26

Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”

Breaking the text open – background and summary:

The gospel reading from Matthew recounts Jesus’ reprimands of the religious authorities who focus too much on earthly matters and external compliance and too little on the superior spiritual matters and internal transformation.

Meditating on the text with personal questions:

Am I satisfied with appearances? Or do I truly long to become the one the LORD calls me to be which means internal transformation only the LORD can see?

Praying:

LORD, You created me. You know me. Open my eyes, my mind, my heart, and my soul to You and your loving presence and power at work in my world, in my life, in me. Grant that I may cooperate with the graces and gifts that You have given to me for this journey so that every day I find myself closer to life in abundance with You as the one You created me to be, the one You call me to be, the one You grace me to be. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.