TALKING ABOUT TRADITION…

⏰Wednesday of the Twenty-First Week of Ordinary Time 2 (26 August 2020)

📖2 Thess 3:6-10, 16-18; Ps 128:1-2, 4-5 (R.v.1a); Matt 23:27-32

🎤TALKING ABOUT TRADITION…

At a stage in his life, Jesus stopped to ask his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of man is?” (Matt 16:13). The responses he got from this question were conditioned by what people saw him doing.

St Paul, an exemplary Christian, would always tell his followers, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor 11:1; 4:6). That is because the examples he gives them are very good ones. In 2 Thess 3:6-10, 16-18, he taught them with a good example of himself how not to be idle.

On the other hand, with the last of the ‘Seven Woes’ in the gospel of Matthew (Matt 23:13-32), Jesus condemned the Jews for not only following the evil tradition of their ancestors, but also modernized it to suit their time (cf. Matt 23:27-32).

Three points need to made from these:

👉🏽The Scriptures itself respects tradition (cf. 2 Thess 2:15) and the Church follows its footsteps to declare that our single deposit of faith is contained in the Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition (Dei Verbum, no. 10);

👉🏽Modernization of evil would not make it good. So, the evil traditions of our ancestors need to be routed out instead of being polished;

👉🏽We must, as individuals and groups, leave good legacies for our children to follow.

May God help us to follow and leave good traditions that are worth remembering in this life, and may such lead us onward into eternal life. Amen.

Have a beautiful and faithful day ahead. Peace be with you.