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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Some of you have heard me speak a lot recently about transactional versus transformative relationships.
A transactional relationship is like a business deal.
When you pull into a gas station, for example, an attendant comes to your car, pumps your gas, then you pay them. There’s not a change in either person’s heart; only an exchange of gas for money.
There’s nothing wrong with this type of relationship within certain areas of our lives. But transactional relationships can also apply to religion.
It’s possible to go to Mass, for example, simply out of obligation. We show up. We check a box. While we’re physically present, if there’s no inner transformation or a change in a person’s heart, then it becomes a transactional experience.
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While it’s always a good thing to come to church, God wants more for us. He wants everyone to have transformational faith – faith that changes our lives for the better.
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This is why Jesus is challenging the Pharisee in today’s Gospel.
This Pharisee is a law-abiding Jew. He knows the rules of his religion and he follows them well. But he’s not inwardly transformed by his practice. His relationship with God is transactional.
He washes his hands before a meal. He’s done what he’s obligated to do. Now on to the next thing.
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How much of my own relationship with God is transactional? And how much of it is transformative?
Can I remember coming to Mass and feeling inwardly changed?
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This is God’s desire for us: that we always leave his house changed for the better.
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*** Image credits: (1) International Association of Fire Chiefs (2) Ocean’s Bridge, Emmaus: Christ Breaking Bread (3) Crosswalk.com
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.” He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” Peter began to say to him, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Did you ever hear the story of the two monks?
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One was an elderly man revered for his wisdom. The other was a novice, having joined the monastery only a few months ago.
One day the older monk asked the novice to accompany him into town, because he needed several items from the marketplace.
On their way home, they encountered a beautiful young woman struggling to cross a river, so they carried her across.
Later that night back at the monastery, the novice began telling his friends about the young woman he’d met earlier in the day.
Turning to the elderly monk, he says, “You’ve never seen anyone so beautiful, right?”
“Who do you mean?” the monk replied.
“You know, the gal down by the river!”
Pulling the novice aside, he says, “I left her at the river. It seems you’re still carrying her in your heart.”
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There’s something incredibly human about that to me. Think about how often we carry something extra in our heart – relationships, thoughts, and feelings – which are better left at the river.
We find two examples of this in today’s Gospel – two men are so close to following Jesus, but are each carrying something extra – and unnecessary – in their heart.
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Peter, for example, tells Jesus that he’s left everything to follow him. On the surface, that’s true: he has left his home, his family, and his job.
But like that young monk, Peter is carrying something extra in his heart.
Just a few verses earlier, Jesus catches him arguing with the other disciples about who is the “greatest,” a sign that Peter needs to leave his pride – and false presumptions of “greatness” – at the river.
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Then there’s the rich young man…. He embodies several qualities Jesus is looking for: he’s zealous; law-abiding; soul searching.
In spite of his wealth and his power, he remains unsatisfied with the world, and he believes Jesus may satisfy him.
As the Gospel describes, he runs up to Jesus, kneels at his feet, tells him how hard he’s tried to understand God’s will for him, then he pops the question:
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”…In a sense, what do I need to leave at the river?
“Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, then come follow me,” Jesus says. But the rich young man walks away sad, “for he had many possessions.”
It’s easy to think of him as someone simply attracted to his wealth. While money cannot make us happy, it does make us comfortable.
But was this the only reason why he couldn’t follow Jesus? Or is there more to his story? Is there something else he needs to leave at the river?
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Perhaps he was also afraid.
It’s one thing to part with your possessions. You can give them away, work hard, and earn them right back.
It’s another thing to part with your future; to allow God to shape it. That requires a huge leap of faith, which was too big an ask for this young man. It’s a fear many young people may struggle with. What will happen to me if I let go and let God?
Jesus had a plan for him, but this young man never finds out. He walks away wealthy, but sad. Peter, on the other hand, never gives up – and becomes the rock of the Church.
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What is one thing that I may need to leave at the river in order to follow Jesus?
Maybe it’s my pride like Peter. Maybe I’m afraid of getting too close to the Lord like the rich young man. Or maybe it’s an unhealthy thought, feeling, or habit.
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Whatever burdens us, may we leave it at the river, and follow Jesus into life in abundance.
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Image credits: (1) Adrienne Everheart (2) Isha.sadhguru.org (3) The Rich Young Man, Heinrich Hoffman (4) Pinterest
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed. Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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In 1954, William Golding published a novel about a group of boys stuck on a remote Pacific Island.
Their makeshift community quickly deteriorated into chaos as the boys’ worst instincts overtook any sense of common good.
They fought amongst themselves for power, food, and survival.
That inner demon stifling the boys’ unity was known as the, “lord of the flies,” which also provided the book’s title.
Golding used this idea – the “lord of the flies” – to describe that malicious instinct seemingly written into our human nature, dating back to the Book of Genesis.
Consider what happened to the first set of brothers on earth, Cain and Abel.
When God found Abel’s sacrifice to be more pleasing than Cain’s, the “lord of the flies” took over; Cain killed his brother Abel in a jealous rage.
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This same cynical instinct is at work in the Gospels.
Jesus is doing something incredible – he’s driving a demon out of a tortured man! Instead of celebrating the good that Jesus is doing, some within the crowds accuse him of cozying up to the devil himself.
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons,” they say.
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That “lord of the flies” instinct, which disregards our neighbor’s good, still arises within us.
Common examples include gossip; tarnishing a person’s reputation; speeding or cutting other drivers off the road; being rude or ungrateful.
It’s a humbling point, but the Gospel invites us to consider ways in which we work against our neighbor or the common good, then counteract that impulse with charity.
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What is something kind, positive, or generous that I can do for someone else today? How can I work for greater unity in the world around me?
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This is what makes us pleasing in the Lord’s eyes – striving to be our better selves.
