First Reading - Ephesians 1:1-10
Gospel - Luke 11:47-54
Sometimes we find it easier to admire good people than to follow their example. We praise the saints, honour the prophets, and remember those who courageously stood for truth and justice. But when their words challenge our own attitudes and actions, we may prefer not to listen. This is the contradiction Jesus exposes in today’s Gospel.
In the first reading, St Paul reminds us of the extraordinary gift we have received from God. Before the foundation of the world, God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in love. Through Jesus, we have received redemption and forgiveness, and God has revealed to us the mystery of his plan: to bring all things together in Christ. Our faith, therefore, is not simply a set of religious practices; it is a gift and a calling to live according to God’s love.
But in the Gospel, Jesus confronts the scribes and Pharisees because they honour the prophets whom their ancestors killed, yet fail to recognize that God is speaking to them in the present. They build monuments to the prophets of the past, but they do not accept the truth proclaimed by the living prophet standing before them. Their problem is not that they lack religious knowledge or traditions. Their problem is that their hearts are closed to conversion.
This warning is also relevant to us. We may honour the saints, celebrate their feasts, read the Scriptures, and participate faithfully in the liturgy. These are important expressions of our faith. But do we allow the Word of God to challenge us? Do we listen when it calls us to forgive someone, to correct an injustice, to overcome our pride, or to show compassion to a person we would rather avoid?
It is possible to respect the Word of God in theory while resisting it in practice. We can praise the courage of the prophets without having the courage to speak the truth ourselves. We can admire the mercy of Jesus without being merciful to others. We can celebrate that God has chosen us in Christ while refusing to live as people chosen for holiness and love.
Jesus’ words are serious because rejecting God’s messengers means closing ourselves to the very salvation God offers. The first reading, however, reminds us that God’s purpose is not to condemn us but to redeem us and gather us together in Christ. His grace continually invites us to open our hearts and begin again.
Today, let us ask for the grace not merely to honour the prophets and saints of the past, but to listen to God’s voice in the present. May the Word we hear become the life we live, so that, chosen in Christ and redeemed by his love, we may truly become holy and blameless in love.
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