11th October 2022
Gal 5:1-6
Lk 11:37-41
Reflection
The Gospel of the Day is a powerful lesson to have the courage to challenge the ways of insincerity and corruption and to live in genuineness.
A Pharisee invited Jesus to have a meal in his house.
We are unsure of the motives or the reason for this Pharisee to invite Jesus for the table sharing…
Maybe he just wanted to grow in his friendship with Jesus…
Maybe he wanted to check how this great preacher would conduct himself in his house…
Maybe he wanted to show off to his friends of having invited a great Rabbi to his house…
Maybe he wanted to break the ministry of Jesus and trap Him in doing some aberrations…
In any case, the Pharisee certainly expected Jesus to follow the rules and customs of the traditional Jewish meal. But he notices that Jesus has failed to wash his hands before dinner.
This washing of the hands was a ritual purification process.
The insistence on this act was not for the sake of hygiene, but for ritual purity!
This omission of the sacred tradition came as a big shocker for the host Pharisee.
He would have thought about Jesus: “This Rabbi is doing it all wrong
Why can’t He follow our age-old customs?
He is insulting me before my other guests!
How dare He behaves so, in my own house!?”
But this is where Jesus, in His unique style of courage & conviction comes into confrontation with the attitude of the Pharisee…
The Pharisee was surely His host yet Jesus dares ‘to have the courage to challenge the ways of insincerity and corruption’
Standing up for convictions and principles was a value that Jesus always upheld.
Being bold to always promote and defend goodness was a virtue that Jesus always supported.
Jesus lashes out with a righteous anger, “So then, you Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside yourselves, you are full of greed and evil. Fools…!” (Lk 11: 39)
The Pharisee got offended because Jesus failed to wash his hands before meal. But Jesus got offended because they failed to have a true cleansing of their hearts.
The Pharisee got upset because Jesus failed to uphold the sacred tradition. But Jesus got upset because they failed to uphold the values of inner purity and holiness.
The Pharisee felt insulted because Jesus failed to honour their customs and practices. But Jesus felt insulted because the table-meal failed to reflect true love and sharing.
Jesus was not afraid to encounter the Pharisee in his wrong thinking.
And today He encounters us and challenges us to ‘live in genuineness’
Maybe we are bold in being relaxed in some of our comfort and pleasure zones. But Jesus exhorts us to renew our lives with a life of holiness and purity.
Maybe we are quite okay with aspiring for many gadgets and objects of passing joys and desires. But Jesus urges us to focus on the real necessities of a good life.
Maybe we are satisfied to beautify our external life, even if it means being greedy and selfish. But Jesus spurs us to repent by living a self-sacrificing and a self-controlling life.
Having the focus only on external factors but neglecting the inner dimensions. Giving importance to only outer shows but totally forgetting the internal aspects.
Being obsessed with doing many things but totally ignoring the necessity of being holy.
The Lord today reminds us that often we are extra vigilant and watchful when it comes to judging others while we allow excuses and justifications to all our misdeeds and wrongdoings.
“Are we ready to wipe away the stains of hypocrisy and corruption from our lives?”
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