Matthew 5:17-19 • St John Ogilvie (Feast in Scotland)
Jesus would almost certainly have overwhelmed his first hearers when he said: ‘Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’ (v. 19). This challenging and daunting teaching could easily have provoked the response: ‘What’s the point then? The Pharisees lead such outstanding external lives of dedication and service of God, how can we lesser mortals compete?’
A modern equivalent of Jesus’ statement might be: ‘Unless your righteousness exceeds that of theologians, Jesuits and your local parish priest, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of God.’ Our response to this, understandably, would be: ‘Well, then, I may as well give up. Priests, theologians and Jesuits are full-time religious. They have years and years of training, and because I work and live in the world I don’t stand a chance of getting anywhere close to the righteousness of such people.’
Well, to be blunt, this way of thinking is just plain rubbish. The grace of baptism, the presence and work of the Holy Spirit within us, the sacraments of the Church (especially the Eucharist) and our own desire to live the life in the power of the Holy Spirit can enable us to surpass the Pharisees, the theologians, the Jesuits and indeed our local parish priest in holiness and righteousness! Take heart from these words of the
Little Flower, St Thérèse of Lisieux: ‘You cannot be half a saint. You must be a whole saint or no saint at all.’
Speaking about the righteousness that God seeks, the great Dominican theologian Jean Baptise Lacordaire OP explained: ‘Sanctity is nothing more than the love of God and of neighbour, carried to a sublime extravagance.’ You see, the only thing that can prevent us from being saints is ourselves. We have been given every grace, every blessing and the most awe-inspiring gift of all – the Holy Spirit of God. Today we celebrate the feast-day of one of Scotland’s greatest sons, St John Ogilvie, whose life was a beacon of holiness. We humbly ask for his prayers and intercession.
‘God our Father, fountain of all blessing, we thank you for the countless graces that come to us in answer to the prayers of your saints. With great confidence we ask you in the name of your Son and through the prayers of St John Ogilvie to help us in our pursuit of holiness.’
Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20 • Matthew 5:17-19
(Proper of Saints: Isa 50:5-9 • Ps 76(77):12-16,21 • Jn 12:24-26)
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