Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 / Matthew 12:1-8
Just imagine that we are giving our best friend a birthday present and we had it nicely wrapped up.
And when he receives the present, imagine him carefully unwrapping the present.
And then he keeps the wrapper and then ... he throws away the gift into the rubbish bin! We would be shocked at this!
But this absurd example gives us an insight into what the Pharisees in the gospel passage were doing with their religion.
They turned religion into an activity of keeping the laws. And keeping the laws became more important than core of the religion itself.
Essentially, the core of religion is that God shows us love and mercy, and He calls us to do likewise to others.
Yet, something beautiful like religion can be turned into something stiff and legalistic and ends up in empty and meaningless sacrifice.
Let us open our hearts to God's gift of love and mercy, and then whatever sacrifice we bring at Mass will also make us into persons of love and mercy.