Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Old Testament: Isaiah 1:2–4,16–20
Gospel: Matthew 23:1–12
Psalm 50:7–15,22–24
As I write this in early February, I have the scene of the recent National Prayer Breakfast fresh in my mind. It’s difficult for me to refrain from contrasting the instructions of Jesus with the very public displays of religiosity in contemporary time. I wonder if the people who originally began the breakfast event (in the 1930s) would even recognize it today. I wonder how it happens that a person can begin an activity with the best of spiritual intentions only to have that activity become so steeped in “religiosity” that its spiritual nature is threatened. I’m going to interrupt my laughter at the National Prayer Breakfast and ask the more difficult question: what are the implications in my own life?
It’s always easier to point out someone else’s short-comings than it is to examine my own honestly. My ego wants to be a full-service public relations agent at times. It can be too hasty in relegating the parts of my personality that need improvement to a closet and trying to shut the door. But denying those parts of myself will not result in a personality that is whole. I must remind myself that God created all of the pieces of who I am. My job is to assemble the puzzle so that it ends up as the picture that God intended.
In this passage from Matthew, I hear Jesus reminding me to keep God at the center of my spiritual life. Public posturing as well as its opposite, false humility, seeks attention for myself.
The activities that will nourish my spiritual needs are not always public. There are also times when it is important for me to be outspoken. I must prayerfully try to discern God’s will in each situation as it presents itself.
I will try to remind myself that my job is to do what I can to help bring the Kingdom of Heaven to this place right now.
Sharon Fugate
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