Word to the Wise
Tuesday, August 23, 2022 - Tuesday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Thess 2:1-3a, 14-17 and Matt 23:23-26]"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean." [Matt.]
AUGUST 23 ST. ROSE OF LIMA, op
[The scripture selections may be different at Dominican locations.]
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean." [Matt.]
The twenty-third chapter of the Gospel According to Matthew is a scathing denunciation of the religious leadership of Jesus' time (and the time of the evangelist). The basic accusation is hypocrisy. They had become like a religious police who interpreted the Mosaic Law in ways that were burdensome to ordinary folks while finding "loopholes" that excused themselves from observance. The image of the cup inside and outside is one that I have found helpful. When the evangelist Luke recalls Jesus' image, he quotes Jesus as saying, "You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?" [Luke 11:39]
The challenge to clean up the inside as well as the outside is lifelong! A hypocrite is someone whose exterior conduct is at odds with their interior intentions. Very few humans escape this fault, but some do make a habit of it. The challenge is not "let it all hang out" or "wear our hearts on our sleeves" but rather to integrity of thought and conduct. The Sermon on the Mount over and over aims at the "inside" of relationship with our neighbor, who, unlike God, may not be able to know our true intentions! The challenge to make our "outside" a true indication of our "inside" is not an easy one. The first big step is to become aware of difference and then begin to bring "inside" and "outside" as clase to one another as possible. Jesus' criticism of the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees can serve as a reminder. AMEN