Tuesday - Second Week of Lent Gospel – Matthew 23:1-12 Keeping Up Appearances Mass at Gethsemane Almost exactly 11 years ago, my deacon-to-be classmates and myself gathered together to be fitted for our diaconal vestments. Putting on stoles and dalmatics for essentially the first time was a wonderful and exhilarating experience; there were a lot of smiles that day as well as a bit of parading around, at least at first. But there quickly came a sense of humility as reality began to sink in. We were barely 2 months away from ordination as Permanent Deacons and we were fully aware that it takes so much more than a fancy vestment to make a Deacon! Unfortunately the Pharisees in today’s Gospel missed that point! They dress for appearances, the bigger the tassels the better, the easier to be seen and admired. Popularity and recognition are more important than service. Looking good rates higher than doing good. Humility is in sh...
