The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
It’s hard to imagine in what tone Jesus says these words to the Pharisee who invited him to dinner. Rude, accusative, and authoritarian are just some of the terms someone at that moment might have used to describe Jesus. Yet, it was the Pharisee who was amazed at Jesus not following the prescribed ritual of washing before the meal. The Greek word Luke used to describe the Pharisee is ἐθαύμασεν (ethaumasen), “to wonder” or “to marvel.” The Pharisee’s amazement was based on his adherence to the law and Jesus’ disobedience to the law. In the first reading, Saint Paul faces the same strict adherence to the law that Jesus say, when he said, “every man who has himself circumcised . . . is bound to observe the entire law.” Instead, Jesus says, “Give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
Only faith working through love is what counts, Saint Paul says. To avoid the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, I have to consider areas in my life where I am strict and unrelenting. God, help me understand that on my own, I am incapable of avoiding hypocrisy and being a complete, loving person made in your image. It is you, who make everything clean for me. It is my faith and your love that will make everything whole. “Give alms,” Jesus says. What can I do, Lord, to help the poor today? Make that clear to me, and give me the opportunity to act.
Thank you, Lord, for your presence by making clear where love is needed. Sometimes I see presented to me two ways: one, where I act out of love and look in another’s eyes and see what is needed; another, where I respond rudely or rigidly or with sarcasm and look over what is most needed—love. Teach me to see so that I choose love.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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