Peripherals and Externals!

Tuesday, August 25, 2026

2 Thes 2:1-3a, 14-17; Mt 23: 23-26

Today’s Gospel invites us to focus on the ‘weightier things of God’s law.’

Matthew 23 deals with a series of ‘eight’ woes (including verse 14 as opposed to the ‘Seven-Woe-View’ that skips verse 14) that serve as the antithesis of the eight beatitudes that Jesus talks about in Matthew 5: 1-12.

We need to ask, ‘Why is Jesus enraged to the extent of cursing the hypocritical religious leaders?’ Jesus only wonders how the religious leaders give undue importance to what is peripheral and external while forgetting the weightier things of law like justice, mercy, and faithfulness. 

What is worse, not only did the religious leaders possess a very shallow understanding of God’s law, but they also expected people to imitate them and punish the hapless crowd when they could not imitate them better. Jesus is angry that the religious leaders gave weight to rules concerning tiny seeds and herbs but overlooked the heart of God’s law.

We must note that Jesus does not condemn our regular acts of piety or devotion. He only wishes that we grow beyond peripherals and externals and focus on what God wants us to do. When we resist the temptation of selective obedience to God’s law, we also avoid the danger of becoming self-righteous. That was precisely the problem of the religious leaders in Jesus’ time. Their obedience of convenience turned them into aggressively self-righteous people.

Jesus’ teaching invites us to consider the following points diligently: 1. We cannot be guided by a list of misplaced priorities. God deserves our rightly ordered love. 2. A Christian without justice and mercy becomes a counterwitness to the Gospel message. Christians must be people who walk their talk. 3. God’s law invites us to grow in holiness, and such an invitation must be responded to from love rather than convenience.

Let us pray that our religious observances may help us grow into people of God. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar