October 17, 2018
Wednesday,
28th Week in Ordinary
1st Reading:
Gal 5:18–25
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 their penchant for special seats at banquets. Can we use this Gospel message to assail the practice of assigning special seats to benefactors at Pontifical Masses? No. Today’s Gospel message has to be taken in the context of the other points that Jesus raised against the Pharisees.
One point Jesus raised was their meticulous observance of paying tithes even on insignificant garden products. Apparently this is rendering strict justice to God. But justice to God is sheer hypocrisy if not coupled with justice towards fellowmen. When hypocrisy sets in, two personalities are created, one separated from the other by a veil. This veil conceals the real personality and exposes to the public the duplicate, which usually appears good.
Jesus pierced their hypocritical veil by pointing out the incongruence between their meticulous observance of paying tithes, and their teaching that one can justifiably deny support to their parents by simply dedicating all his properties to God. Jesus likened them to hidden tombstones. It was important that tombstones were visible to warn people not to get closer and so avoid touching the dead that would make them ritually unclean. Like hidden tombstones, there were little clues visible in the outside for people to shun the Pharisees.
Against the backdrop of this hypocrisy, their penchant for front seats became detestable. There is nothing wrong with front seats unless these are sought after by accolade-hungry people. When your parish priest assigns special seats to benefactors, he is doing an act of gratitude in the name of the whole parish to these generous people. Gratitude, after all, is bigger than the issue of front seats. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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