The scriptures do not mind reprimanding us. Saint Paul didn’t mind correcting the early Christians and Jesus did not mind reprimanding the Pharisees, even if he was invited to dinner at the home of a Pharisee. (No doubt he wasn’t invited back.) The truth is the truth and it does hurt sometimes when we are corrected. Sometimes we make mistakes without meaning to and other times, we know full well what we are doing is wrong.
Saint Paul evidently didn’t mind telling the people when they were sinning. He said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.” He warns the Christians about wickedness and the pursuit of self will, failing to give God His due worship. The wicked suppress the truth and have no excuse because almost everyone knows about God and His commandments. Their vanity took over by reasoning. We do the same things sometimes, at least some of us try to justify the truth with a lie. Saint Paul said they “worshiped the creature rather than the creature.”
This is an easy trap to fall into, to value what others think of us more than what God thinks of us. But, it’s not just the pursuit of fame, fortune and prestige that are the only problems, sometimes it is members of our own families. If we work too hard at pleasing others, sometimes we compromise the truth.
It is hard to face disapproval from others, but it really is necessary if we are to speak God’s truth. Have you ever heard the expression, “Evil exists when good people do nothing?” We are to speak the truth in charity to others. Charity is the key word though. Too often some of us speak the truth in an uncharitable way and it causes undue hurt. Like the Pharisee in today’s gospel.
Jesus was invited to dinner at a Pharisees home and a Pharisee was considered a prominent member of society. However, the Pharisee found fault with the Lord. Perhaps, being part human, Jesus simply forgot to wash his hands. He might have gotten distracted by something and overlooked it. However, the Pharisee’s criticism was worse than the offense Jesus committed, because it came from the man’s heart.
Out of a man’s heart comes good or evil and he chose evil. Perhaps he was jealous of Jesus or perhaps he was just set in his ways about the rules. Whatever it was, the negativity came from his heart. Christ’s unwashed hands did not.
However, we all slip up sometimes and act uncharitable. Jesus had a remedy for that. Give alms. Counter the negative or sinful behavior with an equivalent virtue and the Pharisee’s soul would be made clean again. Even then Jesus was provided a way for people to be made clean again. He did not mind reprimanding people, but he also provided the means to heal the wounds of sin.
We have the sacrament of confession now, but sometimes we are too focused on saying our penance, rather than making restitution to the person that we hurt or countering the sin with the opposite virtue. That might be something to think about the next time we sin, or after we go to confession.
Daily Mass Readings:
Rom 1: 16-25 / Ps 19: 2-5 / Lk 11: 37-41
