HARSH WORDS!

HARSH WORDS!

(a reflection on Luke 11:37-41)

by: Deacon Paul Rooney



Luke 11:37-41 (esp. 40a) : "You fools!"

 

Jesus has some harsh words in today's gospel for those who do not tend to their spiritual journey.  One road on this spiritual journey speaks to me of love, and our invited response to the ethical demand of the gospel.  The other road speaks to me of hypocrisy.  Both roads reveal themselves eventually.

I can remember vividly the time when I was a paperboy for the Fremont Tribune many decades ago. J  Every late afternoon during the weekdays I would make my rounds delivering the Tribune.  Then on the first Saturday

morning of the month, I would make the rounds collecting the monthly subscription price of 15¢ [how times change…the price today is $12.25 to have it delivered to your door by a paperboy].  During the daily deliveries all month long, all I would see would be the outside of the homes: all very nicely painted, yards well-trimmed, and so on.  But once a month when I collected, they would invite me inside, and I would see the absolute mess or chaos that the homes really looked like inside, away from the eyes of the world.  I suspect many of us can visualize that scene.  How many times have we received a surprise phone call from someone saying they would be arriving soon to visit - - so we hit the panic button and clean up the inside of the house (or at least that part that the Visitor will see)!

This is sort of what Jesus is getting at in today’s Gospel (Luke 11:37-41).  Jesus seems to get a little tough with his host, calling him and all the Pharisees Fools!!  That’s probably not something you would expect an invited person to call you, right in your own home.  But that really was in keeping

with the rabbinic tradition, which could also be harsh with some Pharisees.  In that culture, it meant that the Pharisees were being seen by Jesus as being arrogant, which in turn means the Pharisees were acting out of self-important pride in their own ability to follow the ritual rulebook.  And their man-made rulebook said that everyone had to wash their hands and forearms before eating.

Jesus tells the Pharisees - - and us - - “Hey, keeping the external rituals is meaningless if the inside or interior of your heart is a shambles.  You are being hypocrites, because your actions don’t reflect the real truth of your Heart.”  That is always the challenge that Jesus places before us: to put our faith into action.  And good action comes only from a heart of love.

This is why almsgiving is such a Great work of mercy!  It is private, and no one knows what you are giving but you and God!  Works of mercy that come from within are what purify us in the eyes of God. Or as Jesus might say, “Give what is inside the dish to the poor, and then the dish will be clean.”

There is a lot for us to chew on in these five short gospel verses.  The key is to focus on interior cleansing, not exterior cleansing.  To do the latter while ignoring the former reveals the hypocritical heart.  This gospel is not meant just for the Pharisees.  It is meant for all believers of all times; it is meant for you and me today.  We are indeed a sacramental people, but we must make sure that our pious practices do not become a matter of show, or a matter of score-keeping.  The ethical demand of the gospel calls me to take time in my daily examen to discern whether my "religious" actions reflect the true condition of my heart.   I would urge all Christians to do the same.  (+)

Deacon Paul Rooney

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Photo credits:

Paperboy: http://www.my-coloring-pages.com/images/children/Paper%20Boy.jpg

Pharisees, Jesus: http://www.firstmontclair.org/4/post/2013/09/doing-good-is-not-enough.html

Almsgiving: http://www.wordonfire.org/WoF-Blog/WoF-Blog/March-2012/Lent-Almsgiving-and-How-to-Avoid-Being-a-Goat.aspx

 

Psalm 139

The readings for the last week of August have featured Psalm 139, a Psalm that I love.  It is especially valuable since the Gospel has been Matthew 23 where Jesus declares “woe to you scribes and Pharisees”, and the first reading has included Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians in which he explains his motives for his ministry.

The contrasts could not be more stark, Paul is firm in his proclaiming the Good News; he is seeking to please God and not men. So he endures the rejection of many and the frailty of the communities that he is ministering to with love and with honesty.  He allows the Lord to search his heart, to probe his motives so that he does not try to accomplish God’s work through deception, through flattery, or that he is not merely seeking praise and attention from other men.  His love and his motivation are from God, with whom he draws his strength from an ongoing and intimate relationship.

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The Pharisees use the law to bolster themselves, to solidify their power, “neglecting the weightier things of the law:  Judgment, mercy and fidelity.”  Jesus' words cut like a knife through the exterior delusions of sanctity to reveal that they are filled with “evildoing and hypocrisy.”  They are not motivated by love of God, though they claim they are, and may even believe they are.
 
Admittedly, I am inclined to think of all of the “Pharisees” that I could hurl Matthew 23 at, but listening to Sister Anne Shields’ reflections on these passages cut me short on that little (hypocritical) indulgence.  “You can’t judge that (hypocrisy) in others, you can only judge it in yourself.”  I need to allow Him to examine me, to probe me, to reveal the wounds and the darkness that ever so subtly corrupt my intentions to serve Him. Only when I submit to His judgment - His diagnosis of the pathological conditions in my soul, if you will -  can I receive His mercy and healing and have the obstacles to my own fidelity removed.  Only then can the disparity of “intentions of the heart and our external thoughts, words and actions” begin to be unified and whole.

This is why praying Psalm 139 is so wonderful.  We are drawn deep into the mystery of God , who loves us;  who is ever renewing - in spite of the darkness that is revealed, in spite of the hypocrisies, wounds and fears that are so deeply hidden in the dark interiors of our soul.

I have reflected on this Psalm before, and I don’t think that I can express how it speaks to me any better than I did then:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Repent, for the powers that would enslave you have no power over Him. Repent, for God has never left you; though it may be too dark for you to see Him, He sees you. His hand is upon you! Do not be too proud to allow Him to show you your darkest sins, they are not dark to Him. He knows what they have done to you. Do not be afraid to reveal your most depraved desires or your most wretched fears, he is greater and stronger than any of them.  He can retrieve you from the Sheol in your soul that imprisons you.  Do not be afraid of the chaos sin has stirred up, for His Spirit is with you, encircling you and His mighty wind blows over the dark and formless wastelands in each of our souls, reforming and renewing them. Repent, for the kingdom is at hand!  His light will illuminate the way.

In allowing the Lord to probe and examine me what is still amazing is how often I operate - even in the good things that I do, like going to Mass, or volunteering my time - out of corrupted motives. The genesis of the motive may well have been pure, but somewhere in my wounded heart it is altered.  I really do not like to have these things revealed.  Yet, if I do not allow God to penetrate and probe those motives, I can be easily diverted from the whole Truth.
   
Look at our culture.  Look at how quickly we can be diverted from even the most basic concepts of human dignity by cloaking our reasons for supporting evil in works of charity, or words of equality.  Abortion anyone?  Same-sex “marriage”?  When we lose touch with the transcendent, yet powerfully intimate presence of God, individually and collectively as a culture, we lose touch with tho One who can direct our passions authentically, with strength and love.  Look at Miley Cyrus, look at how quickly an inborn desire to be known and loved by God is corrupted into a vulgar and debased just-look-at-me desire! When you witness that type of debauchery in action, you begin to understand what the Psalmist says:  "Do I not hate those who hate you?" 169:21

But the the Pharisees go wrong here, not because there is nothing to hate in those who pursue corruption and evil doing, but because they seem to love to hate it, out of a corrupted sense of honor. How easily hatred of evil becomes prideful!  How easy it is for our motives to be corrupted! We must be careful to allow the Lord to shine His light on our hatred. So that we hate the evil and destruction that is done to the souls around us; so we feel tremendous sorrow because of it; so that His love fills us and flows outward to those who have been so damaged by this fallen world; our own love and charity could not possibly be enough.

Immediately following His dire "Woes"  to the Pharisees Jesus expresses His deep sorrow at the destruction that will be wrought upon Jerusalem, and for all those who wander away from the road of eternity.  Those who have chosen to hate God's ways.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwilling!" Matthew 23:37

For all the Miley Cyrus’ in the world, each of us must allow the Lord to probe us, heal us and fill us with His perfect love; so that we can truly pray for these souls, and without hypocrisy proclaim God's law and cry out to those who dwell in darkness.  We need to be like Paul,  so we can authentically and lovingly minister in the depraved and weak world that we live in. Because even those who are so horrifically deformed and corrupted by evil can be touched by His light is an authentic way. Even they can be re-formed in His mighty spirit.  Even Miley and praise God, even me.

God, examine me and know my heart, test me and know my concerns.  Make sure that I am not on my way to ruin and guide me on the road of eternity."  Psalm 139 New Jerusalem Bible

Peace and Grace to everyone!
Heidi