Strong words from Jesus against the thinking of the Pharisees. They build monuments to commemorate the prophets of old who were killed by their own ancestors. But they do not realise they are doing the same thing themselves. They have closed their minds to the teaching of Jesus (which the people love to hear) and later on will conspire to destroy Jesus and hand him over to the Romans for a terrible death. And not only do they not listen to the teaching of Jesus, they do their best to prevent others doing so. And, we might ask, how often have we as priests, parents or teachers been an obstacle for Jesus coming into the lives of those to whom we are responsible? When they express no interest in religion, what kind of religion have they seen in their elders? We need to reflect on the true nature of the Christian message. Sometimes we can emphasise external actions and practices - as the Pharisees did - but not communicate the true spirit of Jesus' message - a message of love and fellowship, of unconditional reaching out to every single person. Going to church is not the most important thing; it is what we learn there and carry out in our daily life that counts most. The question for each one to ask is: Do I share the vision of Jesus? What does 'Christianity' mean to me?