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     It would be important to pay attention to the way the passage from the Gospel of Luke today illustrates what St. Paul is saying in the first scripture from Galatians.  In the Gospel of Luke, a banquet is often the symbol of the kingdom of God.  At the banquet in today's gospel scripture, the host, a Pharisee, was "amazed" that Jesus did not perform the usual hand and arm washing before the meal.  This is not the same as what our Moms demanded when we were kids!  It is not just a question of hygiene here, but observance of the Mosaic Law.  This is at the root of Jesus' reaction to the Pharisee.  He accuses them of being too obsessed with externals while internally they were anything but pious.  It is this internal faith that counts, and this is what St. Paul is speaking to in Galatians.  

     Words and deeds are the vocabulary of faith, but they are not the faith itself!  The prophets of the Old Testament continually denounced religious observance that did not result in justice for the widow and orphan.  The sign of true faith in Christ would be found in the way the Christian lives but it is the faith that saves.  "Working hard and playing by the rules" while hating anyone who doesn't makes a hypocrite of a Christian or Jew or Moslem!  We know from other banquet images in the gospel that God reserves the right to invite anyone God chooses and to demand that they respond with appropriate behavior.  It is, however, our response in faith that matters and not our table manners, even if our faith will challenge us to improve those!  Jesus challenges the Pharisees and all of us to focus on the widow and the orphan far more than on the etiquette at the banquet!  AMEN