Homily for the Memorial of Saint Monica

It's not often that we think of Jesus using humor to point out faulty mindsets. Yet, His imagery in today's Gospel has a playful twist. He humorously accuses the Pharisees of straining out gnats and swallowing camels. A gnat is practically invisible; a camel is large and imposing. The image of someone straining out a gnat to not swallow it while cheerfully swallowing a whole camel is funny and relatable in an outlandish way. 

He uses this relatable image to poke fun at those who make a big deal about what is unimportant while happily ignoring what is essential, scrupulously paying tithes on herbs while ignoring justice, mercy, and fidelity. Jesus is talking about getting our priorities right and keeping things in balance.

We can all be predisposed to get worked up about minor concerns while not attending adequately to what is essential. On this occasion, Jesus lists what is important: justice, mercy, and fidelity. Justice and mercy concern our relationship with our neighbor; fidelity concerns our relationship with God. Jesus is saying that what really matters is getting those two relationships right; everything else, no matter how urgent it may seem, is secondary. St. Paul says something similar: 'the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself in love.' 

We pray that this is, and will remain our priority.