Word to the Wise
Tuesday, August 25, 2015 - Tuesday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Thess 2:1-8 and Matt 23:23-26]Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean. [Matthew]
In criticising the Pharisees, Jesus puts his finger on something that concerns all of us. We all have an "inside" and an "outside." Our external actions are visible but our motives are not. Jesus takes the Pharisees to task for their motives because those motives were soiling whatever good might have come from their meticulous observances of the Mosaic Law. In some cases, they were manipulating the law for their own personal benefit.
I have given a retreat before that I called DOMINICAN INSIDE, DOMINICAN OUTSIDE. In this retreat I challenge the Dominicans (friars, nuns, laity, etc.) to consider carefully their identity and the motives that spring from within so that the externals of Dominican life - prayer, study, community and ministry - come from an "inside" that shows integrity. It is the relationship between the inside and outside that makes for true integrity. We can all ask ourselves how well our inside and outside work together. AMEN
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