Tuesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
- Mary Jo Barr
- Aug 26
- 2 min read
Gospel Matthew 23:23-26
Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”
REFLECTION
Have you ever picked up a cup out of a cupboard expecting it to be cleaned, then you are about to pour coffee into it and find it had chocolate milk left in it and it is no longer liquid? Luckily, you looked into it before you ruined the coffee you were about to put in it to drink. Ick! Just think if you drank the coffee without knowing, you might have gotten sick.
Whenever Jesus says, "Woe or hypocrites!" He is teaching something important. In this Gospel, Jesus is addressing the scribes and Pharisees, and they should pay attention!
The Scribes were scholars of the Mosaic law and could teach.* The Pharisees were more political and were strict observers of the Mosaic Law and Oral Law.** Saul was a Pharisee. Later, he was converted to St. Paul.
Jesus wanted the Scribes and Pharisees to look into their motives for what they were teaching or demanding of the people. They needed to be clean inside and to have pure intentions, a clean heart, before they act as though they are holy and follow all God's rules and judge others.
Sometimes we think that we know who we are. Take a deeper look. A good way to do this is examine your conscience before you go to bed. Ask Jesus and Mary to help you see yourself as Jesus sees you. Let us pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help us to see ourselves and to repent when we become prideful.
References
*uscatholic.org - Who were the Pharisees?
**newadvent.org - Who were the Scribes?
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