12 OCTOBER 2021 LUKE 11:37-41
Tuesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
DECEPTIVE RELIGIOSITY
“Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness (Luke 11:39).
It is said that the Nazi officials under Hitler who executed Jews were elegant and courteous in their meetings and gatherings. These gentlemen in behavior were coldblooded murderers deep in their hearts! They were very strong hypocrites! Similarly, the Pharisees were very careful about externals but very sinful inside. Just as the example of actors whose gestures are merely performances presenting others, Pharisees never reveal the real person in them.
The people nowadays are so conscious about how to appear good in front of others, without paying attention to how to be good. Society also seems to judge people by external factors like the way of dressing, richness etc. The reason why Jesus renounces Pharisaic hypocrisy is because the eyes of God always look beyond externals looking directly into the heart.
What matters for a child of God is not what others would see in him, but what God would see in him. Amen