Illuminate: Youth Ministry Year 6 Team 

The members of our Youth Ministry team have been invited to participate in Illuminate with other Youth Ministers from across our archdiocese. A permission note has been sent via Compass to the Youth Ministry students. I encourage parents who have received the permission note to complete the form before Friday 3 November. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sunday Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

They do not practise what they preach

Gospel Reflection by Greg Sunter

This week’s gospel is a lesson on leadership. The gospel writer has Jesus offering a very strong criticism of the religious leadership of his day as exemplified by the scribes and Pharisees. He accuses them of not practising what they preach – a rather familiar criticism often levelled at politicians, teachers and church leaders in our own society today. When the criticism is used today it often implies that if the person fails to practise what they preach then what they have to say carries little weight. But rather than totally rejecting the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus cautions his listeners to take notice of what they have to say – as their teachings were always grounded in scripture and tradition – but not to follow their example of behaviour.

Throughout Matthew’s gospel we encounter criticisms of the scribes and Pharisees. This example is of the same nature: they were too caught up with rules and obligations and did not approach life with compassion and concern for the individual. The community for whom Matthew’s gospel was intended was struggling with being both Jewish and Christian. They were coming to realise that to be followers of Jesus’ way they needed to cast aside some of the attitudes and behaviours of their Jewish tradition. That applied particularly to the model of leadership that they had inherited from Jesus: a model of leadership through service, not power and authority. This gospel passage makes it very clear for that original community as well as ourselves that true leadership is provided through service to others and through humble action. Unlike the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, Christian leaders are called to do away with the trappings of power and prestige and, instead, be of service to those whom they would lead.

Blessings for the week ahead,

Veronica Hall

Religious Education Coordinator