Fr. Rick’s Two Minute Wednesday, 21st Week in Ordinary Time

August 27, 2025, Matthew 23:27-32

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082824.cfm

  

Anesthesia Is Painless, But Watch Out. 

   

How did people ever manage before anesthesia? They would bite down as hard as they could on a rag, enduring the pain. Today, you don’t have to count to three or ten. You’re out cold as soon as you get the shot.  

   

But watch out because when the anesthesia and the nerve block wear off, you’ll need some heavy drugs to keep you as pain-free as possible. So, I thought of anesthesia when I read today’s gospel.

Speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus said, “You pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment, mercy, and fidelity. But these you should have done without neglecting the others.”  

   

Sin is like anesthesia. It dulls us to the pain it brings into our lives and relationships. It starts with small things, and we think it’s okay when there are no consequences. But, according to psychologists, behaviors become our norm over 4 to 6 weeks.

Then, we do them without thinking. And with that kind of anesthesia in our minds and hearts, little sins become big sins, and we don’t give them a second thought until we pay the price.  Many people believe that after COVID, they could watch Mass at home and eventually gave up going to Mass at all on the weekends.

   

Jesus understands that no one can pay the price for any sin, no matter how small. Because of this, He is firm with the scribes and Pharisees, hoping they will change and not pay the price that only He could settle on the cross—the absolution of sin we receive through a priest in Confession.  

If we could absolve even the smallest sin, Jesus would not have had to suffer. Only God can absolve sin. Forgiveness restores a relationship. Absolution attacks sin and absolves it for eternity.

Gospel Challenge:
When we go a long time without confession, it’s hard to remember anything we’ve done wrong. So, before we stop feeling and experiencing the pain of sin, we make it a habit to go to confession every four to six weeks or more. The Sacrament of Confession is the remedy that heals the infection, and His grace removes all traces of sin from us.  

   

Love Your Neighbor!

Fr. Rick Pilger, IC

pastor@bscchurch.com