Category: Uncategorized

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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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Often, when we hear about the lives of the Saints, we turn back to days gone by. We examine the lives of men and women, even children, who lived and died centuries ago. 

Given the change in time, culture, and place, we might wonder what they have to say to us today. Consider the life of Saint Teresa of Avila, whose feast day we celebrate. She lived in 16^th century Spain, spending most of her life in a Carmelite convent with other nuns.

What might her life and faith experience say to us?

Surprisingly, perhaps, a lot.

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Teresa lived during a time of significant change. The Protestant Reformation was well underway, as Martin Luther and others accused the Catholic Church of straying away from Christ and his call to holiness, falling into corrupt and scandalous practices, instead.

She felt a similar dynamic unfolding within her own religious order. So, she founded the Order of Discalced Carmelites, focusing on austerity of life, solitude, and prayer.

At the very heart of her reforms, she believed that laws without love, or God at the very center, led to competing interests, transactional relationships, and selfishness. 

Some might say we can see the fruit of that truth unfolding in our nation today. When God is no longer part of the public forum, when faith is hidden, discouraged, or even stomped out, then the self-interested side of humanity emerges.

We have no one else to worship.

People need a common cause – or, better, a common Person – to rally around. That’s not only true in a convent full of Spanish nuns, but it’s also true of nations.

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On this Feast of Saint Teresa, we ask for her intercession, that our society would return to the ideals under which it was founded: one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) Diocese of Norwich (2) Word on Fire (3) Guideposts

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Gospel: Luke 11: 37-41

After Jesus had spoken,
a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.
He entered and reclined at table to eat.
The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!
Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,
inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
You fools!
Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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If this Gospel scene took place in modern day, I’d imagine Jesus pulling a small bottle of Purell hand sanitizer out of his pocket, squeezing a dab onto his hands, rubbing them together, then proceeding to eat his meal.

To us, his hands would be clean.

But not to the Pharisees. 

What mattered to the Pharisees was not whether or not Jesus had germs on his hands; what mattered was whether or not he followed the Law.

And the Law required rinsing your hands in a very particular way before breaking bread.

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“Oh you Pharisees!” Jesus says. “Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil.”

For the Pharisees, religion was a matter of externals and laws. They worshipped the idol of detail; omitting the slightest step of handwashing was a sin. 

They failed to understand that the source of sin is not the hands, but the heart. 

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When I examine my own heart, where is there purity? Where might there be impurity?

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I find it interesting that priests still follow the ritual of handwashing today. Right before celebrating Eucharist, he pours water over his hands and prays: “Wash me, O LORD, of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”

But we do so with the understanding that “sin” is not found underneath our fingernails; it starts within.

May the Lord purify us all until we are holy and blameless in his sight.  

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Image credits: (1) FreePik (2) Cavman Considers, WordPress (3) Palm Beach Lakes Church of Christ

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Gospel: Luke 11: 29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s a story retold from the French Revolution about a group of Christians imprisoned in a dungeon.

For a brief moment each day, the sun rose to a certain angle, causing a ray of light to penetrate their cell.

As the light came in, one of the prisoners was hoisted onto another’s shoulders, where he opened his bible and proclaimed what he read.

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I wonder what verses they heard. Perhaps one of the following:

“For I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

“Come to me all you who are heavy burdened and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

“Whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life.” (John 5:24)

“This is my Body…this is my Blood…do this in memory of me.” (Luke 22:19)

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At the darkest moment of their lives, these Christians turned to the Word of God, and believed.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for their hardened hearts. They’ve seen him heal people and cast out demons; they’ve heard him preach. Yet his Word is not enough for them. They want more and more “signs.”

“But no [other] sign will be given it, except Jonah the prophet,” Jesus says. Meaning, they should repent and believe like their ancestors.

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At times we’re all tempted to want more proof that God is real. But the words he speaks in the Gospels, along with the countless prayers he’s already answered, should be enough to assure us that God is alive … and in touch.

Like those Christians huddled in a dungeon, may we hear the Word of God and receive it for what it is: “A lamp for our feet, a light for our path” (Psalm 119). 

Each in our own way, may we repent and believe in the Gospel.

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Image credits: (1) FreePik (2) Pexels (3) ThePAC.net