Word to the Wise
Thursday, June 13, 2024 - Thursday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 18:41-46 and Matt 5:20-26]" I say to you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven." [Matthew]
JUNE 12 ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA, ofm
The Gospel According to Matthew summons its Jewish-Christian audience to a higher standard than the "scribes and Pharisees" bear witness to. The latter considered themselves to be the elite observers of the 613 precepts of the Mosaic Law - or at least to their interpretation of that law. But Jesus challenges his disciples to go deeper than external observance. He goes into the motives and feelings and thinking of the person - in short, to integrity.
Punctilious observance of external religious rules can lead to a kind of smugness that is contrary to the gospel. This is accompanied also by a kind of "triumphal" attitude that considers all those "others" as lesser people. Our Catholic traditions and Traditions can be dangerous in this regard if we are not careful about the way we live and interpret them. I use the small "t" to mean customs and cultural expressions of faith that are not central but can be helpful to devotion. The capital "T" refers to those matters that are "de fide" such as the creed or dogmatic truths of the faith. Even there, our expressions of dogmatic truth can be an occasion of smugness if we use them like theological weapons. The Sadducees tried this in the question of the woman married to seven brothers [Matt. 22:22-33]. "What if.....?" questions are often used in an attempt to discredit the higher standard Jesus imposes on discipleship.
Before we can point a finger at the Jewish religious authorities in the gospels, whom Jesus criticizes severely, we may well need to consider our own attitudes about treasured devotional customs or even about the way we strive to be faithful to our Catholic Tradition. AMEN