In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah warns the people of Israel that God is not overly taken up with their external observances of the Sabbath or with the sacrifices they offer to Him. What is the use of someone claiming to honour the Sabbath, when at the same time he exploits and cheats others, especially the poor and marginalised, during the rest of the week?

In the Gospel, Jesus reminds the Pharisees not to be overly caught up with external observances of the law or to use them as the criteria to judge or condemn others. Religious observances and laws are means to help those who observe them become more compassionate and to become better human beings.

The readings today remind us that Christianity is not only about external religious observances and practices. This is why the great Church Father, Tertullian (160-225) once remarked, "Christians are not born but made." What he meant is that we do not 'automatically' become Christians just because we are born into a Christian family or are baptised into the Church. To him, Christianity was not to be focused on the externals. Instead, to be a Christian involves a lifelong journey of internal conversion and transformation to become more and more like Christ.

Jesus came to show us a higher way - the way of compassion. He shows us that the real way to bring people back to God is by being channels of God's love and mercy to others. Therefore, may we become channels, and not obstacles, to God's love and mercy to others.