Tuesday in the 28th Week of Ordinary Time, October 13, 2020

Luke 11:37-41

After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

While I was making a holy hour in the gorgeous Blessed Sacrament Chapel here, at three o’clock, the sisters sang their mid afternoon office.  Their chapel is on the other side of a wall so they cannot he seen, but they can be heard.  I listened to them chanting their love song to God.  Old and young chant together the ancient psalms, having abandoned everything for the sake of the only One who matters.

In the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, St. Luke recounts how a Pharisee invited Jesus to dine at his house.  We might remember how on one such occasion the Pharisee did not provide the normal amenities for the Lord, anointing his head, having his feet washed, and so, but that is not the case here.  After Jesus has been properly welcomed and it is time to dine, water and bowls and towels are provided the guests to wash in.  But Jesus declines this, and “the Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.”  To understand this, we have to remember that the Pharisees had their own customs, and over time they had confused their customs with the Jewish Law so that they seemed one and the same.  The custom of washing is prescribed for the temple or the tent where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and this was done by the priests.  The Pharisees interpreted the Law in their own way so that this was to be done households as well.  Jesus clearly wants to teach the Pharisee that this washing is not of the Mosaic Law: it is a mere “human precept”.  

The Lord also takes advantage of the situation to teach a more personal lesson: “oh you Pharisees!  Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil.”  This “plunder and evil” is insisting that all the Jews must adopt their interpretation of the Law in order to be “true” Jews.  “You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?”  That is to say, of course a potter would have made the whole vessel.  It would be impossible to only make the outside and not make an inside to it.  Here, we have to keep in mind that this washing is ceremonial — it has nothing to do with hygiene.  Why, then, Jesus is asking, do you only cleanse the outside? Why not cleanse the inside as well?  Or, why bother cleansing the vessel at all?  Of course, Jesus is also speaking of how the Pharisees cultivated a certain “look”, a certain appearance or style: “They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes” (Matthew 23, 5).  At the same time, by insisting on others going by their unsupported understanding of the Law “they bind heavy and insupportable burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders” (Matthew 23, 4).

The Pharisees made their mistake because it is an easy mistake to make.  We Christians need to know what the Church actually teaches, what the Bible truly says, and not to substitute our own ideas for them instead.  And we ought not to decorate ourselves fancily, to deliberately draw attention to ourselves by what we wear or how we speak.  Rather, like the Lord, people should say about us, “there was no comeliness, that we should be desirous of him” (Isaiah 53, 2).  But let our kindness and generosity, such rare traits these days, win people over.