Twenty-Eighth Thursday of Ordinary Time

Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.

Although faith and reason are not incompatible, we should be careful that we don't let our reason overrule our compassion for others. We can misuse reason to make excuses to do evil or avoid goods. When we do this we give others a poor example of what it means to be Christian. Our thoughts, words, and works can become stumbling blocks for other people's faith because they see us acting in un-Christian ways. Instead, we should do everything within our power to align our reason with our faith and make sure that it is guided by hope and love as well. When our minds are aligned with these three virtues, our hearts open up to heaven and lead others there by shining like the Son.

Is our reason guided by faith? Are our actions leading others toward God or away from Him? How can we align our hearts, minds, and bodies to doing God's Will?

O Lord, we want to be gateways to heaven.

Amen.