Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17).
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets” (Matt. 7:12).
"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
Praying today’s Gospel, I have compassion for the Pharisees. I find it deeply tragic that their hardened hearts could not apprehend the fulfillment of all that they held most dear when the One who embodied that fulfillment stood in their midst. In their attempts to uphold and follow the letter of the Jewish Law, they became blinded to the purpose of it all. All they could see was religious teaching, duty, obligation, religious practices, requirements. They overlooked a man with a withered hand, a brother who was suffering, a human being in need. It’s a horrible irony that by painstakingly pursuing the Law, these religious leaders lost touch with their humanity. To lose sight of one’s place in the human family, to become blind not only to the needs of others but to one’s very existence is to lose oneself. This blindness toward others revealed an inner blindness to the Pharisees’ own deep need for healing and forgiveness.
What about you, what about me? We, too, can become hardened in our religiosity. Like the Pharisees, we may strive to uphold Catholic teaching, but lose touch with its ultimate purpose. We, too, sometimes focus more on tasks than people. We, too, may become deceived into thinking that we are “good Catholics” or “good Christians” but in actuality stumble blindly with hardened, critical, or judgmental hearts. There is nothing “good” in being unloving, unmerciful, or uncompassionate, no matter how faithfully one might follow the teaching of the Magisterium. I have a friend from South Korea. He explained to me that Korean culture views every person as a member of a great extended family. When meeting a stranger, a Korean will address that person as “uncle,” “sister,” whatever form of familial address is appropriate to the age of that person. My friend said that if a Korean is hurrying to an appointment, but comes upon someone in need on the street, the person will stop to help the one in need. A “brother” or “sister” is more important than the task or the appointment. He went on to share that the written expression for “person” in the Korean language depicts two figures joined together. I find it incredibly beautiful that their culture does not view the human being as an individual, but rather as a being in relationship and in community.
Today, let us examine our consciences and our lives in light of the Pharisees’ experience of their religion and religious practices. Are we more focused on “doing the right things” so as to be perceived as holy or religious, or are we committed to live Christ’s new commandment of love, seeing – really seeing our fellow humans as brothers and sisters and doing to and for them as we, ourselves, would want to have done for us. Today, as we see the faces of our fellow humans, whether we encounter them in person, on the TV, or online, let us pray to truly, genuinely, authentically see them. To recognize in their faces our own, but more importantly to see the face of Christ. If Jesus came and stood in our midst today, would he find us striving to be “religious,” or would he immediately recognize himself in us? Oh, Lord Jesus, help me to fulfill your law of love today. Amen!
Elizabeth Wourms