Luke
11:37-41
The gospel presents to
us once more an encounter between Jesus and a Pharisee. As usual, the Pharisee
was very faithful to the law and in this case he was trying to discover any
violation Jesus would do against the law.
Sure indeed the Pharisee discovered one: Jesus did not observe the
prescribed washing before the meal. This was a violation of a ceremonial law.
But it seems Jesus did it intentionally with the purpose of teaching the
Pharisee the importance of being transparent in life.
During the meal Pharisees
denounced Jesus for non-observance of the prescribed religious law of washing
the hands. Jesus took this opportunity to denounce their hypocrisy by
emphasizing the importance of interior cleanliness. True cleanliness is not seen
from the outside but from the heart; it is a spiritual cleanliness.
We sometimes if not
often have this pharisaic attitude in our lives, be it in the exercise of
politics, religion or our ordinary day-to-day involvement with one another.
Sometimes we live like the Pharisees in a kind of show off of what we are and
what we do in terms of moral and religious conduct. We are sometimes more
faithful to ceremonial laws like cleansing his hands yet missing the very
important part of cleansing our hearts. The Gospel calls us to harmonize our
inner attitudes with our external actions. Outside appearances do
not really matter, what matters is what is inside your heart. It is a call to
sincerity, consistency and integrity in our lives.
Saint Therese of Jesus
whom we celebrate today is a vivid example for us. In her life, she was
dissatisfied with the laxity of her sisters and initiated a change, a reform of
the Carmelite. And she brought the order to the level of the purity of heart. It
is an occasion to ask ourselves: Are our external actions fruits of our deep
relationship with God? Do our external actions express our eagerness to do God’s
will? Can we distinguish the essentials and the nonessentials in the practice
of our faith?
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