August 26, 2017 Saturday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time-A
Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17
Psalm 128
Matthew 23:1-12
“Blessed is the Lord who has not failed…” Ruth 4:14
“…whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12
Lord, most of us have 20-20 vision when it comes to spotting hypocrites. It’s easy to see the false fronts and the masks people use to try to appear better than someone else. But you warn us to rely on what’s in the heart rather than how we look. My words and actions a lot of the time can serve me rather than you. I can exalt myself rather than exalting you. Like the Pharisees I can celebrate my own holiness and be unaware of the holiness in others. Your mother Mary only lived to exalt God with every fiber of her being. Lord, my prayer to you today is for the grace of a pure heart. A heart that is honest and always reflecting a true love of you. Help me to take to heart a real awareness that any success I have in this life is your doing. May I seek first the ways of your Kingdom and not worry about what others think of me. It’s only how I appear to you that really matters anyway. Amen