Daily Retreat 10/17/06
2006 Oct 17 Tue: Ignatius of Antioch, bp, mt M
Gal 5: 1-6/ Ps 118(119): 41. 43. 44. 45. 47. 48/ Lk 11: 37-41
From today’s readings: “ For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness.... Let Your mercy come to me, O Lord.... Give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
Inside-Out
On many occasions, Jesus attacked the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, with their finicky attention to appearances but utter disregard for more fundamental realities. While it’s a temptation for all of us to see ourselves as clean of such Pharisaical character defects, in all likelihood, interior impurities may well be lurking undiscovered beneath exterior show coats.
For example, any assumption that “I’m less sinful than the majority” is clearly a Pharisaic notion. Even if that statement were objectively true, the Christian objections are that, first, we humans have no basis for passing judgment on others, and second, the benchmark for morality is not based on averages and national norms, so there’s just never any point at all in comparing our own moral performance with the failings of others.
As Jesus explains, so often it’s simply a matter of getting things “inside-out,” because assessments on the basis of outward appearances should always be tempered by insights on the basis of just honestly looking at what is within.
Gal 5: 1-6/ Ps 118(119): 41. 43. 44. 45. 47. 48/ Lk 11: 37-41
From today’s readings: “ For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness.... Let Your mercy come to me, O Lord.... Give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
Inside-Out
On many occasions, Jesus attacked the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, with their finicky attention to appearances but utter disregard for more fundamental realities. While it’s a temptation for all of us to see ourselves as clean of such Pharisaical character defects, in all likelihood, interior impurities may well be lurking undiscovered beneath exterior show coats.
For example, any assumption that “I’m less sinful than the majority” is clearly a Pharisaic notion. Even if that statement were objectively true, the Christian objections are that, first, we humans have no basis for passing judgment on others, and second, the benchmark for morality is not based on averages and national norms, so there’s just never any point at all in comparing our own moral performance with the failings of others.
As Jesus explains, so often it’s simply a matter of getting things “inside-out,” because assessments on the basis of outward appearances should always be tempered by insights on the basis of just honestly looking at what is within.
posted by FrPitstick | 10/16/2006
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