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A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
"You fools!" (Luke 11:40)
I don't know about you, but if Jesus were at my dinner table giving me a talking-to over my impenetrable stupidity, I'd be all ears!
Jesus was speaking to His dinner host, a Pharisee, who was taken aback when Jesus sat down to eat without first washing his hands, as prescribed by a Pharisee ritual. Jesus immediately rebuked him, "Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil." (Luke 11:39)
Jesus' response seems insulting, but it was out of love that He told the Pharisee to clean up his heart, not just his hands and, among other things, to start loving the poor and stop disregarding them. "As to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you." (Luke 11:41) Jesus wanted the Pharisee to know how to gain eternal life by keeping the Commandments and to recognize what pleases the Father. He wanted him to get it!
He wants us to get it, too, but sometimes we don't, despite the sobering lessons He allows. Today's Gospel teaches us to share Jesus' concern for the poor and to humbly appreciate His concern for us. He blesses us when we come to the aid of those in need, but rebukes us when we turn away from them. We learn from the Pharisee's lack of charity, that giving alms is one of our most important witnesses to brotherly love.
I recall the times I didn't stop to help the hungry, the sick, the homeless and the forgotten. Perhaps, like the Pharisee, I was so filled with selfishness, I couldn't give what I didn't have. But since Jesus especially loves the poor, and He loves me too, I know I'll be given more chances.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth Tichvon is a Catholic writer and Consecrated Marian Catechist under the Direction of His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. Always faithful to the Magisterium, she spreads and defends the Catholic faith as a true witness of Christ, confessing the name of Jesus boldly, never ashamed of the Cross.
Elizabeth became aware of the need for the New Evangelization while in the two years of her formation as a Marian Catechist and wrote over 200 published meditations on Sacred Scripture from the daily Liturgy of the Word for various Catholic websites, and following Jesus' example, now teaches through her own parables so that by sharing her stories through social media, might bring others closer to the heart of Christ. She is currently a regular columnist at Catholic365 and as a Marian Catechist, her spiritual life is the foundation of her writing.
She completed UCLA's Graduate Program With Honors and worked as a Paralegal for 32 years before retiring from Chrysler's Office of the General Counsel in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Elizabeth's website may be found at elizabethtichvon.net
