Daily Mass Readings – Wednesday, 25 August 2027

9 For you remember, brethren, our labour and toil: working night and day, lest we should be chargeable to any of you, we preached among you the gospel of God.

10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and without blame, we have been to you that have believed:

11 As you know in what manner, entreating and comforting you, (as a father doth his children,)

12 We testified to every one of you, that you would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

13 Therefore, we also give thanks to God without ceasing: because, that when you had received of us the word of the hearing of God, you received it not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the word of God, who worketh in you that have believed.

R. (1) You have searched me and you know me, Lord.

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?

8 If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present.

R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.

9 If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:

10 Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.

R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.

11 And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.

12ab But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light as day.

R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

5 Whoever keeps the word of Christ, the love of God is truly perfected in him.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

27 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones, and of all filthiness.

28 So you also outwardly indeed appear to men just; but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; that build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the just,

30 And say: If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31 Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets.

32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

God’s word is meant to reach the hidden places of the heart. Saint Paul gives thanks that the believers received his preaching as God’s word, allowing it to work within them and shape the way they lived. The psalm shows why this inner work is possible: the Lord searches and knows us completely. No distance, darkness, or concealed thought places us beyond his presence.

Jesus warns against a religion concerned mainly with what can be seen. The scribes and Pharisees appeared righteous, yet their inward life contradicted their outward display. Their polished devotion even became a way of judging the failures of others while refusing to face their own connection with sin. Christ does not condemn sincere observance; he exposes the danger of honoring holiness publicly while resisting conversion privately. Keeping his word means allowing God’s truth to make us whole, so that our actions arise from an honest heart rather than from the desire to appear good. The Lord already knows what is within us. That need not lead to fear, but to humility: we can stop defending an image and ask him to bring his light into every hidden place.

Lord God, you search me and know me, and still you hold me with your faithful hand. Let the word of Christ enter deeply into my heart and correct whatever is false, divided, or governed by the need for approval. Give me the humility to receive your truth without excuses, and the courage to let it shape my choices when no one else sees. Keep me from judging others while overlooking my own need for mercy. May your love be perfected in me through sincere obedience, so that my outward life reflects the grace you are working within me. Amen.