Word to the Wise
Tuesday, August 26, 2014 - Tuesday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Thess 2:1-3a, 14-17 and Matt 23:23-26]"Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup so that the outside also may be clean."
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014 TUESDAY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
[2 Thessalonians 2:1-3a, 14-17 and Matthew 23:23-26]
"Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup so that the outside also may be clean."
The fifth of Jesus' seven "woes" against the Pharisees has always caught my attention because of the image of the cup. Integrity is not just a matter of external appearances but also of internal attitudes and thoughts! Jesus connects the two and says that the external has to follow the internal! In the case of the Pharisees whom Jesus critiized, the external observance was primary.
I like the way the Gospel of Luke reports this same saying [11:39-40]: "Did not the one who created the outside of the cup also create the inside?" I used the expression to preach a retreat to some Dominicans on a number of occasions, entitling it: "Dominican Inside, Dominican Outside?"
These "woes" should make us stop and think. How does my "outside" reflect my "inside?" This would be especially true in regard to living out my faith and sharing it with others as a "missionary disciple," to use Pope Francis' words. Jesus uses the word, "hypocrite" to describe the Pharisees. That word comes originally from Greek theater [known well in Palestine] meaning a "masked actor." What "masks" do we wear? AMEN
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