True Worship
Romans 2:1–11 | Psalm 61:2–3,6–7,9 | Luke 11:42–46
In the Gospel (Luke 11:42–46), Jesus unmasks the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who magnified rituals but neglected righteousness. They tithed herbs yet ignored justice and love. This is the same spirit Jesus rebukes in our time, the worship of performance without compassion, rules without relationship, and titles without transformation. Many Christians today are more interested in looking righteous than in living righteously.
Today, the Church celebrates Saint Teresa of Ávila, a woman consumed by divine love, she was a mystic who turned prayer into transformation. She taught that true prayer is not about many words, but about great love; not an escape from the world, but a change within it. In an age of noise and distraction, Teresa calls us back to the interior castle of the soul — the sacred space where God dwells and speaks in silence. She challenges us to let prayer set our hearts ablaze, until our will becomes one with His.
Prayer
Lord, inflame our heart with the fire of Your love as You did in Saint Teresa, that we may find peace in prayer and power in surrender. Purify our souls from hypocrisy and fill us with the sincerity of true worship. Amen.
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
