Catholic lectionary for 26 August 2026

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

2 Thessalonians, Chapter 3, verses 6-10, 16-18

⁶ giveth them diverse precepts, especially to shun idleness and ill company, ¹⁶ and last of all concludeth with prayer and salutation

⁶Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

⁷For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;

⁸Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:

⁹Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.

¹⁰For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
...

¹⁶Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

¹⁷The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.

¹⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

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3

3:6 That walketh disorderly - Particularly by not working.Not according to the tradition he received of us - The admonition we gave, both by word of mouth, and in our former epistle.

3:10 Neither let him eat - Do not maintain him in idleness.

Matthew, Chapter 23, verses 27-32

¹³ He denounceth eight woes against their hypocrisy and blindness

²⁷Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

²⁸Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

²⁹Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

³⁰And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

³¹Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

³²Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Read more:Matthew, Chapter 23

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23

23:30 We would not have been partakers - So ye make fair professions, as did your fathers.

23:31 Wherefore ye testify against yourselves - By your smooth words as well as devilish actions: that ye are the genuine sons of them who killed the prophets of their own times, while they professed the utmost veneration for those of past ages.

From the 3d to the 30th verse Mat 23:3-30 is exposed everythingthat commonly passes in the world for religion, whereby the pretenders to it keep both themselves and others from entering into the kingdom of God; from attaining, or even seeking after those tempers, in which alone true Christianity consists. As,

Punctuality in attending on public and private prayer, Mat 23:4-14.
Zeal to make proselytes to our opinion or communion, though they have less of the spirit of religion than before, Mat 23:15.
A superstitious reverence for consecrated places or things, without any for Him to whom they are consecrated, Mat 23:16-22.
A scrupulous exactness in little observances, though with the neglect of justice, mercy, and faith, Mat 23:23-24.
A nice cautiousness to cleanse the outward behaviour, but without any regard to inward purity, Mat 23:25-26.
A specious face of virtue and piety, covering the deepest hypocrisy and villany, Mat 23:27-28.
A professed veneration for all good men, except those among whom they live.

23:32 Fill ye up - A word of permission, not of command: as if he had said, I contend with you no longer: I leave you to yourselves: you have conquered: now ye may follow the devices of your own hearts. The measure of your fathers - Wickedness: ye may now be as wicked as they.

NOTES

When Paul mentions in his letter to the church in Thessalonica that he and his companions earned their living by their own labour while carrying out their mission there, the apostle first of all wishes to recall certain moral standards. Indeed, why should a church community feed people whom...

When Paul mentions in his letter to the church in Thessalonica that he and his companions earned their living by their own labour while carrying out their mission there, the apostle first of all wishes to recall certain moral standards. Indeed, why should a church community feed people whom it neither invited nor expected as guests, especially if those people intend to remain in the city for a long time?

Custom required hospitality for three days. Anyone could ask for lodging during that time without even explaining in detail who he was, where he came from, where he was going or why he had set out on his journey. But if a guest wished to stay longer, he could do so only with his host's consent. Anyone planning to remain on a mission for a long time had at least to give advance notice of his arrival, or, better still, arrange his stay in the city with the community or with the particular people with whom and at whose expense he intended to live. Yet there was a great temptation, under cover of talk about God's work, to take advantage of the not entirely voluntary hospitality of one's hosts, offered out of respect not so much for the guests as for the One in whose name they spoke.

But that was not the only point. This is also about simple responsibility, responsibility for God's work. And that is already a spiritual question, just like any question of responsibility or irresponsibility. This is simply because no spirituality is possible without a responsible attitude towards one's own life. The conviction that a local church community or one of its members is obliged to help you carry out the mission entrusted to you by God is an example of irresponsibility, and quite a striking one. Indeed, whether a task is entrusted by God or by a human being, the person responsible for it is that person alone to whom it was entrusted, and no one else.

One can count on help only if that same task has been entrusted not only to oneself, but also to someone else. If nothing of the kind has happened, one cannot count on anyone's help. It will, of course, be wonderful if voluntary helpers appear. But one cannot demand their appearance from either God or other people. And if there are no voluntary helpers, it means one must do one's work oneself, alone if necessary, provided, of course, that one is certain it has truly been entrusted by God.

This passage speaks in the most definite terms about what in Russian has come to be associated with the term “Pharisaism”: outward, ostentatious piety and complete corruption within, at the very core...

Jesus' words leave the impression of the Judgement coming upon Jerusalem and of retribution for all the evil committed in its streets over the centuries. One could, of course, say that the coming of the Messiah marks the beginning of the Judgement, and this would be true. But there is something here that does not fit the messianic expectations traditional for that time. What is most striking is that...

Jesus' words leave the impression of the Judgement coming upon Jerusalem and of retribution for all the evil committed in its streets over the centuries. One could, of course, say that the coming of the Messiah marks the beginning of the Judgement, and this would be true. But there is something here that does not fit the messianic expectations traditional for that time. What is most striking is that Jesus links the city's condemnation precisely with its rejection of Him as Messiah. Here it is no longer God who punishes Jerusalem; Jerusalem punishes itself by rejecting its own salvation.

This rejection is evidently connected with the same religiosity that prevented so many Pharisees from seeing the Messiah in Jesus and entering the Kingdom. And it seems not to change over the centuries, while adapting perfectly to new realities and incorporating into its tradition even that to which it has no moral right. For Jesus, the monuments over the prophets' graves become a symbol of such opportunism: once they were killed by the predecessors, the “fathers,” of those who now erect monuments to them and honour their tombs.

History, of course, knows many similar examples: contemporaries seldom appreciate great people in accordance with their greatness, especially in matters of spiritual life. But the issue is evidently not belated recognition as such, but its causes. And those causes do not change over the centuries: formal, legalistic, or ritual religiosity, hostile to any revelation that threatens in any way to disrupt the integrity of its religious system. Jesus, of course, understands perfectly well that the Pharisees of His day who reject Him would have rejected in exactly the same way the prophets to whom they erect monuments had those prophets appeared before them alive. He likewise understands that the road leading Him to the cross has been laid out by the same forces that brought about the death of the prophets who, in their time, bore witness to the very Kingdom that He has now brought into the world.

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