Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Alas For You Pharisees!
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. Christ has liberated those who believe in him from the Jewish law, but that does not mean that they can do just anything. Freedom is not licentiousness, for that would make them slaves again, of what Paul calls “the works of the flesh.” They are now free and urged to do the good works of the Spirit.
Gospel. It is surprising that Jesus could cure all ills – the blind, the deaf, lepers, yes, and also sinners aware of their failures. But he could not cure Pharisees and scribes from their “open-eyed” blindness. Jesus perhaps does not attack them so much for their literal observance of the last detail of the law, but for becoming so absorbed in the details of the law that they did not see the roots of all laws, justice, and love. This is also the key teaching of Paul in his letter to the Galatians: not laws but the Spirit.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
your Son Jesus was the fulfilment
of the Law and the Prophets.
He knew and taught and lived
that the fulfilment of the Law and the promises
lies in the service of people and of you
in justice and love.
Let these too be the guides of our lives,
that with him we seek people
and above all the living person
of you, our God, for ever and ever.
First Reading
But when you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
You know what comes from the flesh: fornication, impurity, shamelessness,
idol worship, sorcery, hatred, jealousy, violence, anger, ambition, division, factions,
and envy—along with drunkenness, orgies, and similar behaviors. I repeat what I have already said: those who do these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, understanding others, kindness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. For such qualities, there is no law or punishment.
Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its vices and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us conduct ourselves spiritually.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see Jn 8:12) Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Woe to you, Pharisees! You give a tenth of all, including mint, rue, and other herbs, to the temple, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These should be done without ignoring the other obligations.
Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace.
Woe to you, for you are like tombstones of the dead, which are hard to see; people don’t notice them and make themselves unclean by stepping on them.
Then a teacher of the law spoke up and said:
“Master, when you speak like this, you insult us too.”
And Jesus answered:
“Woe to you also, teachers of the law. You prepare unbearable burdens and load them on the people, while you yourselves do not lift a finger to help them.
Prayers of the Faithful
For missionaries and all who proclaim the faith, that their own lifestyle may be a strong argument to follow Christ, we pray:
For all prophets in the Church, that their personal encounter with Christ may give them the power to speak for what is right and good, we pray:
For us, that we may care little about outward display but for the things that matter: honesty, justice and love, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
we offer you ourselves through these gifts
and ask you to send us
the Holy Spirit of you and your Son.
Let him change these offerings into Jesus
and let him guide our minds and hearts
to bear fruits of life: love, joy, peace and patience
and all that brings happiness to God’s people.
May we thus live the life
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
your Son has spoken hard words today
not just to scribes and Pharisees of the past
but to us, your people today.
Let these words wake us up
from our self-complacency,
our peace with ourselves.
Keep us from deceiving ourselves
or wasting our time and effort
on things that do not matter;
make us absolutely sincere
with ourselves and with people
and honest to you, our God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
We believe in Jesus Christ. We recognise him as our Lord and Saviour. This commits us, then, to the practice of justice and the love of God and neighbour. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTONS
Luke 11:42-46
Practice what you preach
We continue to read Chapter 11 of St. Luke, where Jesus continues his criticism of the Pharisees. As we reflected yesterday, Luke used these teachings of Jesus to warn members of his own community not to be judgmental toward others. Pharisees stressed the observances of the Law of Moses. Scrupulous adherence to the law and the numerous traditions accumulated over the centuries was inevitable for a pious Jew.
The scribes, Pharisees and religious scholars – were regarded as the custodians and interpreters of the Torah.
Jesus gets visibly annoyed and furious with these religious leaders for preaching the wrong catechism and presenting the false face of God to their people. The religious leaders taught the people to accept God's commandments, lest they be punished. According to their traditions and interpretations, keeping themselves pure by following ritual purifications, observing the Sabbath, and paying tithes was a way to please God and avoid his punishments.
This sounds familiar even in our time. Even today, some people believe in a punishing God. Many hold on to observing traditions as a crucial part of their faith lives. Sometimes church leaders have been more anxious to preserve traditional practices than to lead people to a more profound love of Christ and each other. Religious traditions and rituals are essential, but they should not be at the expense of the greatest commandment of Jesus: Love of God and love of neighbour.
The more we multiply rules, the more we try to control other people’s lives. With control over others comes a temptation to judge them. At the same time, we are in danger of considering ourselves holier than the rest because we follow the rules. And this is the most significant barrier to holiness! Jesus attacks the Pharisees for their attention-seeking, power-hungry attitude.
In the past, the clergy in the Church expected similar honours to be paid to them. People often did so willingly because they genuinely respected their bishop or priest. However, the habit alone does not make the monk, the Roman collar, the priest, the mitre, the bishop.
Pharisaism is alive in our society, but the first person I need to check is me. In the rite of Ordination to the diaconate, the Bishop would give an all-important instruction to the one ordained as Deacon: ‘Believe what you read. Teach what you believe. Practise what you teach.’