Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Intention: For greater compassion and tolerance among all people, especially where histories of fear and misunderstanding divide us.
Today’s Gospel | Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14
Some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.” He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” Then his disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.
From the Third Meditation for the Time of Retreat | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
(Your disciples) must also be convinced that they are a letter that Jesus Christ dictates to you, which you write each day in their heart, not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, who acts in you and by you through the power of Jesus Christ. He helps you triumph over all the obstacles that oppose the salvation of these children, enlightening them in the person of Jesus Christ to make them avoid all that could be displeasing to him.
Prayer
Eternal Father, many times we refuse to accept that we need others, especially when it comes to recognizing your presence and power. And so we pray that you bless us with the humility to admit our foolishness. Help us to believe rather than to doubt, to serve rather than to judge, and to build up rather than to tear down. May we learn to see all things through the eyes of faith. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.