Open to me the gates of
righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, these lyrics from Psalm 118: 19 are not prescribed for today, and yet, these were the words that suggested themselves as I contemplated the lectionary for this fourth Sunday in Ordinary time. The formulation that suggested itself to me, however, was somewhat different:
Open to me the gates of holiness, that I might enter and give thanks.
As you will have noticed, the shift is from righteousness to holiness. My head, or perhaps the Spirit, was suggesting to me that what the scripture intends to communicate is that righteousness is the basis of holiness.
This is not a bad way to approach holiness, since it steers us away from the pietism that has come to dominate so much of contemporary Christian – not just Catholic – life. Whether we are piously veiling, receiving communion on our knees, or are regular praise and worship concertgoers coming away with a religious high, there is a dangerous tendency to consider piety and devotion sufficient to keep us on the path of holiness. And while piety is important – I especially believe that Eucharistic piety is very important to growing in holiness; and that the proper reception of communion is fundamental – it is not sufficient. A growth in righteousness is fundamental to the growth in holiness.
And what is righteousness? Guided by this Sunday’s lectionary, I would like to define it as being just, justice being understood as giving to others what is their due (ius). These others include not just those around us, but also God. To be just, then is to give what is due, both to those among us, and also, firstly to God – which is praise, thanksgiving and proper worship.
Let us turn now to the words of the first reading:
Seek the LORD, all you humble of
the earth,
who have observed his law;
seek justice, seek humility;
perhaps you may be sheltered
on the day of the LORD's anger.
Who are these, “humble of the earth” that the prophet Zephaniah refers to? They are those who, baptized in Christ, become a part of the Church, His mystical body. If one goes through the list of the beatitudes, that is our Gospel reading for today, we realise that the beatitudes are in fact descriptors of Christ, his saints, and the marks of the true Christian, i.e. those “who observe his law”.
seek justice, seek humility
My dear brothers and sisters, these are the two virtues we need to assiduously seek in our times, whether we live in Goa, or outside. This search is critical because all around us the structures that were built through Christian ethics are now collapsing, and causing much sorrow and loss, and not just to Christians. As the Urdu poet Rahat Indori has so succinctly observed:
Lagegi aag to aayenge ghar kai zad me. Yahan pe sirf humara makan thodi hai.
Many houses will be engulfed in an inferno. It is not as if mine is the only house here.
The pursuit of justice and humility must begin in our daily lives, and in simple ways. Look at the ways in which we drive! I speak for myself, and the terror I experience, when on the highway, vehicles driving at twice the 80 kmph speed limit surge from behind me, and then overtaking from the left, transgress into the bike lane, zip past me and cross over into the lane to my right. I grit my teeth as traffic jams are compounded by those who zip past existing files of cars, creating third and fourth lines. I remind myself in both cases that this happens because the state that ought to enforce discipline, and justice, has abandoned its role. It does not even know what justice is. And yet, I cannot be the enforcer of justice in this mess – I need to have the humility to recognize this. All I can do, for now, is to make sure that I do not join these unjust. For these men are most certainly unjust, given they create potential death traps, and deprive rule-abiding people of their due even when not killing them.
And why is it that we seek humility and justice? The last line from Zephaniah is very clear. So that:
you may be sheltered
on the day of the LORD's anger.
It will be on the dread day of judgement that the meek and humble will inherit the kingdom of heaven, those who mourn will find comfort, that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied when they see the smug violators of every rule come to divine justice, burning eternally in the fires of hell. On this blessed day of judgement, those who have shown mercy through their attempts at justice, and humility, will be shown mercy. Those who regularly clean their hearts through the sacrament of confession will be admitted into His presence and see the face of God. Those who have struggled to make peace will be acknowledged by the Son and welcomed by the Father into the Kingdom of heaven where they will live eternally in contemplation and adoration of the divine face.
Rejoice and be glad,
for [on that day] your reward will be great in heaven.
It is for this day of judgement that we Christians walk the path of holiness. For we know that life extends beyond this material world, and the impious perpetrators of injustice in this world will repent at leisure.
May Our Lord give us the grace to grow in holiness, for as psalm 118: 20 teaches us:
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
(A version of this homily was first preached to the faithful at the Cathedral parish of St. Catherine of Alexandria on 31 Jan 2026.)
(Image reference: Bishop Mark Eckman at the doors of St. Paul Cathedral Pittsburgh, Louis B. Ruediger, 2025, via TribLive.)
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