The façade of hypocrisy | Bandera

The façade of hypocrisy

Fr. Dan De Los Angeles |October 14,2015
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The façade of hypocrisy

Fr. Dan De Los Angeles - October 14, 2015 - 03:00 AM

October 14, 2015
Wednesday
28th Week in
Ordinary Time
1st reading: Romans 2.1-11
Gospel: Luke 11:42-46

Jesus said, “A curse is on you, Pharisees; for the Temple you give a tenth of all, including mint and rue and the other herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. This ought to be practiced, without neglecting the other. A curse is on you, Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace. A curse is on you for you are like tombstones of the dead which can hardly be seen; people don’t notice them and make themselves unclean by stepping on them.”Then a teacher of the Law spoke up and said, “Master, when you speak like this, you insult us, too.” And Jesus answered, “A curse is on you also, teachers of the Law. For you prepare unbearable burdens and load them on the people, while you yourselves don’t move a finger to help them.”

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for being lovers of front seats. May we use this Gospel passage to assail the practice in our parishes of assigning front seats to benefactors and VIPs during big liturgical celebrations?

Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees’ love for front seats has to be interpreted with the other points he raised against them. One is their meticulous observance in the payment of tithes to the Temple over insignificant garden products. Taken alone, tithing even over insignificant products is even a noble indication of one’s desire to practice justice towards God.

But justice to God far removed from justice to fellowmen is hypocrisy. While they were meticulous in giving tithes to the Temple, they justified their refusal to support their elders by dedicating all their possessions to God. To Jesus this was hypocrisy plain and simple.

Jesus likened these hy-pocrites to tombstones. Tombstones were painted white in the outside to make them visible to pilgrims so that seeing them the pilgrims may not accidentally touch them and incur ritual impurity. Like tombstones appea-ring so white in the outside, there were little clues visible in the outside for people to be warned about who the Pharisees really were.

Against the backdrop of this hypocrisy, their penchant for front seats became detestable. There is nothing wrong with front seats unless accolade-hungry people seek them out. When your parish priest assigns special seats to benefactors at Pontifical Masses, he is doing an act of gratitude in the name of the whole parish towards them. The benefactors don’t seek out the front seats; we seek it out for them out of gratitude. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.

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