Reflection on the Mass Readings from 8-25-26 - The Guardians of Tradition and Spiritual Manipulation

Here are the readings from yesterday at mass - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082526.cfm

In particular, take a look at the letter vs. the Gospel read:

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3a, 14-17
We ask you, brothers and sisters,
with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our assembling with him,
not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly,
or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement,
or by a letter allegedly from us
to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.
Let no one deceive you in any way.

To this end he has also called you through our Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm
and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught,
either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them
in every good deed and word.

Matthew 23:23-26
Jesus said:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.”


The first reading warns of anyone writing or speaking to deceive those addressed by St. Paul, and the encourages the hearers to stand fast to the traditions (that which was passed on) taught to them, by word of mouth or the written word.

The second reading, by contrast, accuses the Pharisees of being hypocrites for following some traditions, namely the lesser ones, while neglecting the greater traditions - the weightier matters of the law.

During the homily, the priest pointed this out, and made the classic distinction between "Capital T Tradition" and the lower case t traditions that we might like. All fine and good so far.

He didn't get into any specifics, but what he did say was that the Church was essentially the guardian of those lower case t traditions, and that they could change them in their judgment, whereas the capital T traditions could not be changed. And we might even get really upset with changing of lower t traditions, but we should remember the distinction, and essentially submit to those in authority.

Now, there's nothing technically incorrect there either. But notice what this does - two things in my estimation:

1. Notice it puts the emphasis on submission to Ecclesial leaders, who have essentially total power over lower case t tradition (which was neither defined by the priest, although everyone who's paying attention knows the context and subtext of the suppresion of the Latin Mass and the spiritual abuse currently being engaged in by current ecclesial leaders, nor is really quite so cut and dry (lex orandi lex credendi anyone?) or even written down definitively, at least to my knowledge).
2. Notice completely reverses the accusation of Christ the Gospel and the counsel of St. Paul's letter. The message is not - "hold fast to tradition, and oh by the way, there are actually two types of traditions, so make sure you're only holding fast to the important big T tradition" ~ Not St. Paul. It's hold fast to tradition, some people are writing and saying things to deceive you. And who is Christ talking to and accusing of being hypocritical by failing to differentiate between the important traditions and the less important traditions? The religious leaders, who are abusing tradition. And, by the way, Christ, the Son of God, says specifically "without neglecting the others" - in other words, He specifically counsels the religious leaders to keep both the little t traditions, and the big T traditions, and then accuses the Pharisees of spiritual manipulation.

That's a different homily than I heard.