Last Sunday I wrote a wrote about feeling disaffected and listening to last week’s Gospel, Matthew 22:34-40. It says, “a scholar of the law tested him by asking” Jesus which was the greatest commandment. In this well-known passage, Jesus answers that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind — and, following from that, to love your neighbor as yourself.

That phrase, “a scholar of the law tested him,” felt like an admonition to me. But I’m not sure I changed.

This week’s Gospel was from Matthew 23. Jesus chastised the leaders of the temple for their pride. The priest at the parish we visited gave a homily about the sin of clericalism, and asked for our prayers for him and his brothers and sisters in the religious vocations. I found myself reflecting on the sin of “professorism,” which stems from the same root of pride.

We visited that parish for a family baptism today, and the sacrament took place at a special ceremony after the Mass. At the ceremony, the deacon read a different Gosepl passage:

Matthew 22:34-40, again. “[A] scholar of the law tested him …”