“Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord.” Aren’t these the most consoling words someone can say when we are frustrated? We can get so caught up in an impossible task or overburdened by our work that sometimes we just need someone to say “let’s do this together!”
Most of our frustration is due to the fact that we think we can accomplish everything by ourselves. But the Lord tells us that we don’t have to shoulder the burdens of life by ourselves. In today’s gospel, the scribes and Pharisees wanted to save their pride by showing other people that they could do grand things by themselves. But in reality, it was just a show. Jesus reveals to us an easier way and, in taking this way, our pride is the least thing at stake. For whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Let us surrender to the Lord and ask for his help.
—James Antonio, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic of the Oregon Province, is currently studying philosophy at St. Louis University. He lives at the Bellarmine House of Studies in St. Louis.