Sunday, October 18, 2020 - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew 22, 15-21 - You shine like stars in the universe holding fast to the word of life.

Men have the bad habit of trapping themselves; here it is the Pharisees who want to trap Jesus. But from the status of hunter, they become prey. We too can find ourselves in this situation if we persist in our turpitudes. Let us not try to want evil for others, but let us wish them good, because we may not know the person we want to harm well enough, as in this case in the Gospel, where it is man who wants to lure God into a trap. We too - when we have little inclination to pray, or when we pray simply because of the sacraments, or because of such and such, or because of any other calculations of interest - seem to trap God and get caught in the same trap. Let us always remember that we are His beloved children in the eyes of God the Father and that we must not get bogged down in this way.

Moreover, they are hypocrites who deceive and live "pretending"; they pretend to be good, to their face, when this is really not the case. Jesus exposed those who pretended to be ignorant in order to trap him, but very soon they repented and left ashamed and silent! Nothing we do and nothing that is in our hearts can be hidden from God. Jesus does not mince his words when something goes wrong, He continually rebukes and instructs. This is part of His mission, and it is a good example to follow, especially on this World Day of Prayer for Mission. We are all sent because of our baptism, let us never keep silent or distort the message, but let us be faithful messengers, the aim is to get the message across.

Secondly, we are Christians in society, and we are humans before we are Christians. Therefore, the duties within society should not be neglected under the pretext that we are Christians, just as the mission as Christians must be fulfilled. Let us remember that the one who sends wants the messenger to go the furthest, but that the messenger also wants the messenger not to move but for the mission to succeed. It is not a man who sends us but God Himself, as his children. Let us not be reluctant to fulfil our mission on the pretext that it is difficult. Amen.