Woe to You

Today’s Gospel Text: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. 26 You blind Pharisee! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Matt 23:23-26

Reflection: The contradictions of life often make me marvel; we do or say one thing and in reality practice just the opposite.

If you thought that only a housewife could be spending on traveling long distance in order to avail of a sale offer and ultimately spend much more than what she would spend elsewhere, then you are mistaken.

You could call yourself a Christian and yet not live your Christianity in obedience to his voice, nor understand the tenets of the faith you claim to adhere to.

Or you could be well versed in theology and scripture and yet may not understand the basics of the faith.

In the light of the above, we can now read the woe that Jesus speaks to the Scribes and the Pharisees and reflect and see how it applies to us: “hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!”  (vs. 23, 24)

For example; we have may have thought of justice only from one single window, which has made us look at the horizontal angle and even in that we may have acted contradictory and confused.

We could participate at rallies and seminars on bringing about justice in society and yet practice injustice in our personal lives when dealing with others, especially those who are subordinate to us.

Thus in both respects we have practiced injustice by forgetting the priority of God.

The greatest injustice, which is the reason for all other injustices is that of not seeking the one true God  and Jesus Christ who proved himself as our savior by his passion, death and resurrection. 

To talk about Christian love and not to reach out with the gospel of Christ, and seeking to only proclaim gospel values, is nothing but a betrayal of Christ, which demands the ‘woe’ of Christ.  

Prayer: Lord, may I not come under your curse and instead mend my ways according to thy holy will, wisdom and purpose.

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