MEMORIAL OF SAINTS ANDREW KIM TAE-GON, PRIEST, AND PAUL CHONG HA-SANG, AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS

1 Timothy 3:14-16

Beloved:

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great:

He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.

Psalm 111:1-6

Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds; the Lord is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant. He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.

Luke 7:31-35

“To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

(NRSVCE)

Meditation

In the Gospel, Jesus is speaking to the attitude of the religious elites. No matter who gave them the message of the kingdom of God, whether John the Baptist or Jesus himself, they resist the message and try to denounce something about them, saying that John had a demon and Jesus was a glutton.

These people who were blessed to live in the time of John the Baptist and Jesus, dismissed the somber message of repentance and rejected the happy pronouncement of the kingdom of God. They are as children in the marketplace who would not weep nor dance and the Lord is frustrated with them for overlooking the crux of the teaching.

The Lord came to reveal himself to us to save us from our sins. But it is up to us to accept that we must both mourn our sinful past and rejoice in the gift of salvation before we can truly have the new life.