Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

“You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.”

 

Gospel Reading: Matthew 23:27-32

 

Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”

 

The past couple of Gospel readings dealt with warnings about our spiritual purity. The sixth woe, like the preceding ones, deals with our concern for our external image and neglects what is inside our hearts. Since contact with dead bodies, even when one was unaware of it, caused ritual impurity for the Jews, tombs were whitewashed so that no one would contract such impurity inadvertently. Jesus tells us that we cannot just whitewash over the filth, that we must truly purify our heart and soul. Just because we appear pure, God sees through the whitewash and sees the skeletons that we keep in our own closet. Christ is telling us that it is time to open the closet door and clean out the junk that we keep inside. It is time to get rid of the impurities in our life. Jesus warns that what truly corrupts a person is not what we see on the outside but the impurity of our sinful attitudes, what we store up inside. Our pride, greed, sloth, envy, hatred, gluttony, and lust lead us to sinful behavior. It is the inward reality of our hearts which will be judged. It is our internal desires which lead us to sin.

 

The last woe is the most serious indictment of all. It portrays the scribes and Pharisees as standing in the same line as their ancestors who murdered the prophets and the righteous. In spite of honoring the slain dead by building their tombs and adorning their memorials, and claiming that they would not have joined in their ancestors' crimes if they had lived in their days, the scribes and Pharisees are true children of their ancestors and are defiantly ordered by Jesus to fill up what those ancestors measured out. This order reflects the Jewish notion that there was an allotted measure of suffering that had to be completed before God's final judgment would take place. They not only neglected the poor and the weak, but they were intolerant towards anyone who challenged their idea of religion. That is why so many of the prophets who warned about tolerating evil desires and unjust behavior towards ones neighbor were persecuted and even killed by their own rulers and people. We see this more and more today.  As people of faith try t defend their religious beliefs, they are battered down as criminals.  People are being forced to compromise their belief and the church is being condemned for being righteous.  As the church stands strong in her teachings about abortion, same sex marriage, the poor and the immigrant, society condemns her. Only the humble of heart can receive forgiveness and purity from God. It is through our humbleness that we receive the grace of true wisdom and understanding, pardon and healing. The Holy Spirit is ever ready to renew our minds and hearts and to teach us God's way of love and holiness. We must ask the Holy Spirit to purify our heart and mind and to fill us with the wisdom and understanding of God's word.

 

A Simple Prayer

 

Come Holy Spirit, purify my heart and mind.

Cleanse my inner body and rid my of the sins which corrupt my body.

Fill me with wisdom and understanding so that I can truly see heaven on earth.

 

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon