Monday of Week 21 Year 1

What sort of lives are we living as Christians? Do we walk the talk and practice what we preach? Or do we merely utter words and lord it over others, and expect others to do as we say but not do as we do? When we merely say things without showing example, then we may be hypocrites like the scribes and Pharisees in today's Gospel, who Jesus condemned with harsh words: "Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who shut up the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces, neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to go in who want to. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when you have him you make him twice as fit for hell as you are."

So what does this mean to us? It means that we should be careful of our words and actions. May we not end up as hypocrites like the scribes and Pharisees, easy to say lots of things or make comments, but unwilling to take ownership of what we say and practice what we tell others to do. Word are cheap and meaningless, unless we are willing to walk the talk and show good example.