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Gospel: Luke 11:42-46
The Lord said:
“Woe to you Pharisees!
You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb,
but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.
These you should have done, without overlooking the others.
Woe to you Pharisees!
You love the seat of honor in synagogues
and greetings in marketplaces.
Woe to you!
You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”
Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply,
“Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”
And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law!
You impose on people burdens hard to carry,
but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Saint Ignatius of Antioch was one of the very first Christian martyrs. Once while preaching, he said, “Do not have Jesus Christ on your lips and the world in your heart.”
We must choose one.
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The scribes and Pharisees hadn’t learned that lesson. They spoke of God, and claimed to be his representatives on earth, but they were obsessed with things of this world – money, pride, power, image, and prestige.
They were religious on the outside, but defiled on the inside. “You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk,” Jesus says.
Jesus sees through their outward appearance and directly into their hearts.
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While it’s easy to criticize these religious figures from long ago, you and I face the same temptations they did – namely to, “have God on our lips but the world in our hearts.”
Whether we cling to wealth; nurse old grudges; or judge our neighbors unfairly, these things must be removed from our hearts.
May the Spirit continue to transform us so that every word we speak and every action we take brings glory to God.
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Image credits: (1) AnaStpaul (2) Christ and the Pharisees, Ernst Zimmerman (3) 412teens.org