Judgement and Hypocrisy

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to examine our religious practices and seek the guidance of the Spirit for the path correction we may need.

Guide For Our Action

The reading from Second Thessalonians advises awareness of The Man of Lawlessness

* [2:15] Reference to an oral statement and a letter (2 Thes 2:2) and the content here, including a formula of conclusion (cf. 1 Cor 16:13; Gal 5:1), suggest that 2 Thes 2:1–15 or even 2 Thes 2:1–17 are to be taken as a literary unit, notwithstanding the incidental thanksgiving formula in 2 Thes 2:13. (2 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 96 offers Praise to God Who Comes in Judgement.

* [Psalm 96] A hymn inviting all humanity to praise the glories of Israel’s God (Ps 96:1–3), who is the sole God (Ps 96:4–6). To the just ruler of all belongs worship (Ps 96:7–10); even inanimate creation is to offer praise (Ps 96:11–13). This Psalm has numerous verbal and thematic contacts with Is 40–55, as does Ps 98. Another version of the Psalm is 1 Chr 16:23–33. (Psalms, PSALM 96 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus declares “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”

* [23:24] Cf. Lv 11:41–45 that forbids the eating of any “swarming creature.” The Pharisees’ scrupulosity about minor matters and neglect of greater ones (Mt 23:23) is further brought out by this contrast between straining liquids that might contain a tiny “swarming creature” and yet swallowing the camel. The latter was one of the unclean animals forbidden by the law (Lv 11:4), but it is hardly possible that the scribes and Pharisees are being denounced as guilty of so gross a violation of the food laws. To swallow the camel is only a hyperbolic way of speaking of their neglect of what is important.

* [23:25–26] The ritual washing of utensils for dining (cf. Mk 7:4) is turned into a metaphor illustrating a concern for appearances while inner purity is ignored. The scribes and Pharisees are compared to cups carefully washed on the outside but filthy within. Self-indulgence: the Greek word here translated means lack of self-control, whether in drinking or in sexual conduct. (Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries was not available at publication time.

Don Schwager quotes “Neglecting Weighty Matters of Love and Justice,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).

"Not only among the Jews but among ourselves as well, we find people sinning in these ways. They are swallowing camels. People of this type frequently show off their religion even in the smallest of things. They are rightly called hypocrites for wanting to exploit their religiosity before men but being unwilling to undertake that very faith which God himself has justified. Therefore the imitators of the scribes and Pharisees must be dislodged and sent away from us, lest a woe touches us in the same way it touches them. The scribes could be described as those who valued nothing found in the Scriptures except its plain sense interpreted legalistically. Meanwhile they condemn those who look into the very depths of God himself. Mint and dill and cummin are only spices for food but are not themselves substantial food. What substantive food would mean in conversion would be that which is necessary for the justification of our souls - faith and love - unlike these legalisms, which are more like condiments and flavorings. It is as if a meal might be thought to consist more of condiments and flavorings than the food itself. The seriousness of judgment is neglected while great attention is given to minor matters. Spiritual exercises which in and of themselves are hardly justice are spoken of as justice and compassion and faith. It is lacking in justice to treat these small parts as the whole. When we do not offer to God the observance of all that is necessary for worship, we fail altogether." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 19-20) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 23:23-26 comments that sometimes we need cleaning up on the inside as well. We may exert all our energy in doing godly things, but we do them with the wrong attitude or disposition.

Of course, Jesus is always pleased when you serve the poor or spend time worshipping him. He also knows that none of us can control every thought that comes into our minds. But you can do something. Whenever you realize that your attitude has wandered out of line, stop right away and ask the Lord for forgiveness. He knows you well, and he knows that you are trying to please him. He will be merciful and help you the next time you are tempted by judgmental, critical, or resentful thoughts. He may even flood your heart at that moment with love for the person you are judging!

You can be clean both on the inside and outside. Turn to Jesus and trust that he can—and will—change your heart to become more like his.

“Father, give me a heart like Jesus, filled with love and mercy!” (Meditation on Matthew 23:23-26, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes that the author of 2 Thessalonians writes in Paul’s name not to believe rumours about the end of the world that may take some time to come and we are called to live as witnesses to Christ. Friar Jude reminds us of the hypocrisy of over scrupulous attention to the details that are not indicative of a change of heart.

Brian McLaren describes how Jesus often provoked disruption to move people beyond the status quo. McLaren invites us to trust the Spirit’s call to keep moving.

This disruptive revolution, this liberation, this great spiritual migration begins with each of us presenting ourselves, with all of our doubts and imperfections, all of our failures, fears, and flaws, to the Spirit…. You. Me. Everyone. No exceptions. 

 “The moving ever shall stay,” [twelfth-century Hindu mystic and poet] Basava said. [2] Those words contradict so much of our inherited religious sensibility. “Stay the same. Don’t move. Hold on. Survival depends on resistance to change,” we were told again and again. “Foment change. Keep moving. Evolve. Survival depends on mobility,” the Spirit persistently says. That prompting tells us that the migration we seek is not merely from one static location to another. It is, rather, from one static location to a journey of endless growth.  

If you want to see the future of Christianity … don’t look at a church building. Go look in the mirror and look at your neighbor. God’s message of love is sent into the world in human envelopes. If you want to see a great spiritual migration begin, then let it start right in your body. Let your life be a foothold of liberation. (McLaren, n.d.)

We are aware of forces that attempt to distort our understanding of how we serve as followers of Christ and we invoke the Spirit to illuminate the path we need to choose for our transformation.

References

Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 27, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/23? 

McLaren, B. (n.d.). Positive Disruption. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 27, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/positive-disruption/ 

Meditation on Matthew 23:23-26. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 27, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/08/27/1061394/ 

Psalms, PSALM 96 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 27, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/96?10 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 27, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=aug27 

2 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 27, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2thessalonians/2?1 

Shepherd our Need

 

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate our call to model the Good Shepherd in our action toward others.

 Green Pastures and still waters

In the reading from the Prophet Ezekiel, we can contrast false shepherds with God, the True Shepherd. 

* [34:2] Shepherds: the leaders of the people. A frequent title for kings and deities in the ancient Near East; the ideal ruler took care of his subjects and anticipated their needs. Ezekiel’s oracle broadens the reference to include the whole class of Jerusalem’s leaders (v. 17). The prophet assures his audience, the exiles in Babylon, that God holds these leaders responsible for what has happened to Jerusalem and will give Israel a new shepherd worthy of the title.1

Psalm 23 is a beautiful description of the Divine Shepherd. 

* [Psalm 23] God’s loving care for the psalmist is portrayed under the figures of a shepherd for the flock (Ps 23:1–4) and a host’s generosity toward a guest (Ps 23:5–6). The imagery of both sections is drawn from traditions of the exodus (Is 40:11; 49:10; Jer 31:10).2

In the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard inspires reflection on justice, envy, and generosity 

* [20:1–16] This parable is peculiar to Matthew. It is difficult to know whether the evangelist composed it or received it as part of his traditional material and, if the latter is the case, what its original reference was. In its present context its close association with Mt 19:30 suggests that its teaching is the equality of all the disciples in the reward of inheriting eternal life.3

Molly Mattingly comments that God gives us far more than is just! A mature faith isn’t a transactional relationship. God doesn’t just pay us for working towards the kingdom. God gives us what God wants us to receive, in love. 

“Are you envious because I am generous?”

This is the same question that the father could ask the son who stayed at home in the parable of the lost son. Frankly, I could often answer “yes.” But as soon as I recognize my envy, it seems absurd. It reveals a misunderstanding of how God works, how love works, or even how people work! Of course someone can be generous to whomever they wish! There’s a logic of finite love hidden in that envy: if God loves and cares for someone else, God can’t love and care for me as much. As humans our time, energy, and resources may be limited in that way. God’s love transcends those limits. The vineyard owner in this parable cares for each worker by providing what they need to live for the day, regardless of when they were able to start working or how deserving their peers judged them to be. The question then becomes, “Can I be grateful that God is generous to others? Can I share in the joy of God’s generosity?”4

Don Schwager shares a prayer. 

Lord Jesus,fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may serve you joyfully and serve my neighbor willingly with a generous heart, not looking for how much I can get, but rather looking for how much I can give.5

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 20:1-16 comments it can be hard to wrap our minds around this parable. It just doesn’t seem fair. But God’s mercy can’t be limited or measured out. It is so vast, so overflowing, that it is always pouring out like a waterfall from his heart. So while it might seem to us that God should dole out mercy like a paycheck, it doesn’t work that way. Whoever comes to him will be covered in his mercy—a mercy that saves us and fills us with his divine life.

 

This parable shows us that there is always hope for our loved ones who haven’t yet come to the Lord. God is a communion of love—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and he is always offering his love and mercy to us. And that’s what he will do when anyone comes to his vineyard, no matter what time of day!

“Lord, I praise you today for your abundant love and mercy, which know no bounds!”6

Friar Jude Winkler connects the passage from Ezekiel to the Feast of Dedication and Jesus self identification as the Good Shepherd. Working as Jesus demonstrates is it’s own reward. Friar Jude underlines that Christ is all we need as he rejects heaven with different layers.

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments Brian McLaren has spent years imagining “a new kind of Christianity” that invites people into a deepening commitment to love of God, neighbor, and self. Such a movement for the common good is surely disruptive or “disordering” to our status quo, just as Jesus disrupted the status quo in his own day.

 

“The moving ever shall stay,” [twelfth-century Hindu mystic and poet] Basava said. [1] Those words contradict so much of our inherited religious sensibility. “Stay the same. Don’t move. Hold on. Survival depends on resistance to change,” we were told again and again. “Foment change. Keep moving. Evolve. Survival depends on mobility,” the Spirit persistently says. . . .

If you want to see the future of Christianity as a great spiritual migration, don’t look at a church building. Go look in the mirror and look at your neighbor. God’s message of love is sent into the world in human envelopes.7

When our action to work for others is based on their needs and not our reward, we are transitioning beyond a transactional understanding of our relationship with God.

 

References

 

1	(n.d.). Ezekiel, CHAPTER 34 | USCCB. Retrieved August 19, 2020, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/34
2	(n.d.). Psalms, PSALM 23 | USCCB. Retrieved August 19, 2020, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/23
3	(n.d.). Matthew, CHAPTER 20 | USCCB. Retrieved August 19, 2020, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/20
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved August 19, 2020, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture .... Retrieved August 19, 2020, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
6	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved August 19, 2020, from https://wau.org/meditations/2020/08/19/174918/
7	(2020, August 19). A Disruption of the Spirit — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 19, 2020, from https://cac.org/a-disruption-of-the-spirit-2020-08-19/