1 Thess 2:1-8 / Matthew 23:23-26
Spiritual gifts are quite awesome as well as worrisome.
Because they can command a lot of authority, and yet they can also be abused.
The gifts of preaching and healing are two spiritual gifts that can turn people to God or turn people away from God.
In other words, they can be used to magnify God or they can be used to multiply personal gains.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul stressed on the possibility of abuse in the preaching of the Good News.
He warned the missionaries of the early Church not to preach for money or honour or power or authority.
Rather, like a mother feeding and looking after her own children, they should preach with love and devotion.
In doing so, they not only preach the Good News, but they preach by also handing over their lives.
In the gospel, Jesus reprimanded the scribes and Pharisees for not putting into practice what they preach, and also they neglected the fundamentals of the Good News - justice, mercy and good faith.
Where there is no love in the preaching, then there will also be no healing and conversion.
Regardless of whether we are a preacher or just an ordinary parishioner, we are judged by the fruits we bear in our lives.