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.
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Reflection:
Which is
more important to you? The outside of a person (what is seen) 0r the inside of
a person (what is not seen)? For Jesus it is always the inside, the content of
a person’s heart and thought.
What is
seen doesn’t matter for what good it is to wear nice clothes, to have nice
houses and to have wealth. If the content of our hearts and minds are filthy
and toxic? What good it is to have all the material wealth and power in this
world if you have no God in your heart. If you have no compassion and love?
Power and
material things are temporal. But if you have God in your heart, if you have
compassion and love you are forever peaceful until the end.
The Pharisees
in the gospel which was the ruling power during Jesus’ time were the recipient of
Jesus woes. For they were always looking good and pious on the outside but morally
and spiritually lacking in the inside. Thus, Jesus wanted them to change and to
have an interior cleansing and renewal.
Let us
reflect on these pronouncements of Jesus for He is speaking to all of us also: “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 (Matthew 23:25-26). – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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