Good News Inspiration for Daily Life
Bulletin Insert for October 23, 2022.
Description: We are made righteous by our love for others. Self-righteousness is self-made – it motivates us to do good, but only for the selfish purpose of winning approval or gaining some other personal benefit, like the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14, the Gospel reading for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Jesus points out that “whoever exalts himself will be humbled.” Sooner or later, self-exalting people get humbled, whether they realize it or not. They are brought down low by their own behaviors. People who encounter them in daily life do not think very highly of them. And certainly, God doesn’t either.
The cure for this self-righteousness is to get in touch with God’s concern for others. Once we unite our hearts to God’s love for them, we begin to care about them, too. And the most powerful, most successful way to accomplish such union with God is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which absolves us of self-righteousness and empowers us with divine grace to absorb Christ’s own righteousness.
Ideas for use: Bulletin insert for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, handout for adult faith formation, youth ministry, staff and ministry meetings, faith sharing communities, RCIA, etc.