Gospel Reading: Lk 7:31-35
JESUS said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
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Jesus chastises the leaders of the Jews as flippant and capricious children – hard to please, wanting other people to change according to their estimation. They want Jesus to abide by their standards and obey meticulously the Jewish laws and precepts, without regard to the plight of the lowly ones and sinners. They play only one tune: be faithful to the Mosaic Law.
Instead, Jesus offers a new perspective of salvation: love and forgiveness. Indeed, the wisdom of God is seen in the overflowing mercy and compassion of Jesus, as opposed to the judgmental and loveless righteousness of the Jewish elders.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2017” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
