Reading 1 Mal 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10
A great King am I, says the LORD of hosts,
and my name will be feared among the nations.
And now, O priests, this commandment is for you:
If you do not listen,
if you do not lay it to heart,
to give glory to My Name, says the LORD of hosts,
I will send a curse upon you
and of your blessing I will make a curse.
You have turned aside from the way,
and have caused many to falter by your instruction;
you have made void the covenant of Levi,
says the LORD of hosts.
I, therefore, have made you contemptible
and base before all the people,
since you do not keep My ways,
but show partiality in your decisions.
Have we not all the one father?
Has not the one God created us?
Why then do we break faith with one another,
violating the covenant of our fathers?
Responsorial Psalm Ps 131:1, 2, 3
R. In You, Lord, I have found my peace.
O LORD, my heart is not proud,
nor are my eyes haughty;
I busy not myself with great things,
nor with things too sublime for me.
R. In You, Lord, I have found my peace.
Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted
my soul like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap,
so is my soul within me.
R. In You, Lord, I have found my peace.
O Israel, hope in the LORD,
both now and forever.
R. In You, Lord, I have found my peace.
Reading 2 1 Thes 2:7b-9, 13
Brothers and sisters:
We were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children.
With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you
not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well,
so dearly beloved had you become to us.
You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery.
Working night and day in order not to burden any of you,
we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly,
that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us,
you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God,
which is now at work in you who believe.
Gospel Mt 23:1-12
Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
“The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people’s shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’
As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called ‘Master’;
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Catholic Fundamentalism Interpretation:
The Loving Programmer uses Malachi to let people know that He is great and to be feared. Then, He addresses the Jewish priests, telling them, first of all, to listen to His Operating Instructions. If they don’t listen, He promises to curse them, turning what had been His blessing into their destruction.
He lets them know that they have turned from His Operating Instructions, and caused others to do so, as well. That, He informs them, has invalidated the contract He made with His inherited priesthood of Levi.
As a result, He has made them “contemptible”, and has made them common in front of everyone on earth. They did not only refuse to obey His Operating Instructions, but show favoritism, presumably to the rich and powerful.
Malachi reminds them that they have One Father, and do not have the right to break faith with each other, violating the contract with Levi.
R. In You, Loving Programmer, my human program runs as it should.
O Loving Programmer, I am neither proud nor do I think I am better than others. I don’t try to be important, or think about things too high above me.
R. In You, Loving Programmer, my human program runs as it should.
Rather than be proud, I have disciplined my urge to vanity. My soul is at perfect peace, its program aligned properly to Yours.
R. In You, Loving Programmer, my human program runs as it should.
O people who should love God, do so always.
R. In You, Loving Programmer, my human program runs as it should.
Fellow believers, when we apostles of Christ, The Program, downloaded in perfect, obedient, human form, were with you, we were gentle, caring for you as a mother cares for her young children. We had decided to share not only God’s Word, but our lives, because we came to love you so much.
You all remember how we worked, long and hard, to make enough money to support ourselves so that we wouldn’t burden a single one of you.
We still had time to tell you about the prophets, and how their predictions had come true with the coming of Christ.
Because of this, we, like you, give unending thanks to The Loving Programmer. What you heard from us was not from mere humans, but from The Loving Programmer, Himself. He is now working in all you who believe.
Jesus spoke to crowds of people, and to His disciples:
“The scribes and pharisees have taken their place on Moses’s chair. So, you should obey their orders.
But, do not follow their examples; their words are different than their actions. Their words are right, but their actions are not. They are hypocrites, making people do difficult things but not even lifting a finger (we should, now, actually lift one of our own fingers to see how little the scribes and pharisees were doing) to help anyone do anything.
They spend their lives showing off. They are vain and showy about the way they dress, (and look ridiculous?).
They love to be in front of people, showing their importance and loving their titles.
As for you, don’t give yourselves grand names. You have but one teacher, and you are all in one family.
Call no one on earth your father (Catholic priests are called ‘Father’ because the spirit of Christ lives in them,). You in the family of believers have but one Father, in Heaven.
Do not desire, or let yourself, be called ‘Master’. You have but one master, Jesus Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever puffs himself up will be deflated, but whoever humble obeys The Operating Instructions will be made great (in The Kingdom of God).
