During my first year in the seminary, in my Religious Education class, our teacher challenged the class and asked if there was anybody who would be able to recite aloud all the Ten Commandments as written in the book of Exodus.

For some reason, it seems to be a part of human nature to delight in catching someone out! Putting another down is so common. By putting someone down, we raise ourselves up, and make ourselves seem better and brighter than the other.

In today’s gospel the scribes who exercised leadership in the Jewish community with their interpretations of the law found their authority being threatened by Jesus and therefore wanted Him to take a position on their discussions about what is the most important law in their scriptures. 

When I was in my first year in the seminary, our Religious Education teacher challenged us to see who knew the Ten Commandments and who could recite them.

In the first reading, the loss to which humanity has condemned itself against the will of God is re-read by St. Paul through a sort of history of sin that he offers to the believers of Rome. Created by God for truth and justice, the human person turned to impiety and injustice.

There was an old woman who was very conscious about observing the “one-hour fast” before receiving communion. She went to Mass one Sunday noting the time she finished breakfast, which was shortly before she left the house.

In today’s Gospel we have Jesus being challenged again by some of the Jewish leaders (Pharisees and Herodians are mentioned specifically) who would like to catch him in error or put him in a difficult situation so that people would not listen to and trust him.