Luke 11:47-54

Ephesians 1:1-10

Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6

Luke 11:47-54

The Lord said:

“Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets 

whom your fathers killed.

Consequently, you bear witness and give consent

to the deeds of your ancestors,

for they killed them and you do the building.

Therefore, the wisdom of God said,

‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles;

some of them they will kill and persecute’

in order that this generation might be charged

with the blood of all the prophets

shed since the foundation of the world,

from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah

who died between the altar and the temple building.

Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!

Woe to you, scholars of the law!

You have taken away the key of knowledge.

You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”

When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees

began to act with hostility toward him

and to interrogate him about many things,

for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I recognize today how much I need your grace and merciful love. Without you, I can do nothing, but with you, all things are possible. Help me to extend your reign in my family and my community and help my brothers and sisters enter your holy Kingdom of justice and charity.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Spilling the Blood of All the Prophets: After pronouncing three woes on the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, wickedness, and failure to help God’s people, Jesus pronounced three woes or covenant curses upon the Scholars of the Law. We read the first woe yesterday, which warned the Scholars that they were burdening the people of God with their interpretation of God’s Law. We read the second woe at the beginning of today’s Gospel. Jesus tells the Scholars that they, like the Pharisees, are hypocrites. He points out that they build and care for the memorials of the prophets killed by their ancestors. It was like they were saying, “We are the ones who honor and respect God’s prophets and would never do what our ancestors did.” But interiorly consenting to what their ancestors did. They prefer to keep the prophets of the Lord God dead and buried instead of meditating on and putting into practice their words recorded in Scripture. What is worse, they were plotting to kill not just another prophet but the Messiah sent by God! If they truly knew the Scriptures, they would discern that all throughout human history, the wicked have persecuted and killed the innocent, the righteous, and the messengers sent by God. They would realize that they themselves belong to a wicked generation. They need to heed Jesus’ warning that if they continue to act with hostility toward him, they will be charged with the blood of all the prophets.

2. Taking Away the Key of Knowledge: The third woe is Jesus’ warning that the Scholars of the Law have taken away the key of knowledge. Instead of unlocking the Word of God for the people through their diligent study, prayerful contemplation, and teaching, they, like the Pharisees, have focused on the lesser matters in the Law and neglected what is most important – love, justice, and mercy (Luke 11:42). The Pharisees and the Scholars do not heed Jesus’ woes or warnings as a call to repentance and conversion. Instead, they plot to catch Jesus in his speech so that they can accuse him in some way. “For his part, Jesus will continue teaching his followers and the crowds the nature of true discipleship” (Gadenz, The Gospel of Luke, 233). The Pharisees and the scholars manifest the exact opposite of true discipleship. They are hypocrites who put on a show of religiosity but, in truth, are far from God and lead others astray. 

3. The Letter to the Ephesians: During the next two weeks, the daily First Reading will be taken from the Letter to the Ephesians. The letter was likely written while Paul was under house arrest in Rome (A.D. 60-62). It is a message of encouragement that teaches the Gentiles in Ephesus about the plan of God (Ephesians 1:3-23) and their place in it as co-heirs of the promises of Christ (Ephesians 2:1-10). Christ, Paul teaches, now reigns supreme over all things and works to make us participants in his royal, priestly, and prophetic mission to the world. The mystery of Christ is also the mystery of his Body, the Church. “The Church [Paul] describes is nothing less than God’s new creation in Christ (2:10, 15; 2 Cor 5:17). She is a holy and universal community that shines out to a world shattered by sin. Her life comes from the divine Trinity, as her members are made the children of the Father (1:5), the body and bride of the Son (5:22-32), and the temple of the Holy Spirit (2:21-22)” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 344).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have the true key of knowledge! You have unlocked the gates of heaven through your passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. Guide me to those open gates and embrace me with merciful love when I stand before you.

Living the Word of God: How hard it is to recognize hypocrisy in our lives! We are usually blind to our own faults and very quick to judge the faults of others. What do deep prayer and contemplation reveal about how I live, act, think, and speak? Whose minor faults am I quick to judge? Why?