Reflection for 10/20/17

Today’s Gospel from Luke continues our Lord’s campaign against the Pharisees.  The Pharisees were one of the leading religious ideologues of the time.  The Pharisees were constantly concerned with not transgressing the law, snd therefore, they were notorious for implementing restrictions for the general public in order to avoid any semblance of transgressing the law.  Oftentimes, the burdens that the Pharisees were imposing on the people were very cumbersome.  Our Lord rebukes them by saying, “Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.”  In some instances, the Pharisees would impose laws on others but they themselves would not live by those laws.

 

In our own lives and interactions with others, we can be Pharisaical, that is, we can impose expectations on others that are unrealistic or unattainable, when in reality we don’t even live up to those expectations ourselves.  For example, the person who fasts every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year may think to himself or herself, “That person is not very holy because he or she does not fast ever.”  When in reality, perhaps that person does other acts of penance and acts of charity for the people of God.  Fasting is good, but fasting divorced from a concern for others is not good.  Our fasting should be offered up for ourselves AND others.  Our fasting should create a greater awareness and concern for those who go without.  And that goes for anything in the spiritual life.  If our spiritual practices become an end unto themselves, then we are no better than the Pharisees of old.

 

Jesus is calling us to be concerned for one another in addition to the prescripts of worship.  Jesus is not creating a false dichotomy between worship and charitable acts, rather he is teaching us that the two enrich one another.  We cannot love God and hate our neighbor, and in fact, we cannot love God and be indifferent to our neighbor.  Let us being to reflect on how does my prayer life and my relationship with the Lord translate into my love of others?  Can I grow in my love for my neighbor?  What will I begin to do today to increase my concern for those around me?