In the reading today from Gospel According to Luke, the Pharisees and tax collectors observed that fellow collector Levi (Matthew) dropped everything and joined Jesus. At the great banquet that Levi gave after his decision, his fellow tax collectors and others looked askance at the disciples of Jesus:
The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying,
“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
Jesus consistently criticized the Pharisees because they acted pious because their displays of faith were not genuine. They were acting pious but did not have piety.
Early on in my life as a Catholic, I was absolutely pious – I made hypocritical displays of virtue. I cringe looking back at my foolery and thanks be to God, I have learned better. So when I come across the Pharisees in scripture, I remember that I am a Pharisee when I think I can take over for God as I judge the actions of others.
How then can I receive piety (one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit) without being pious (making a hypocritical display of virtue)?
Fortunately, the first reading today from Isaiah (58:9b-14) provides 7 ways to have piety without being pious. I broke them down into three categories:
“Remove from your midst”:
1. “oppression” – do not oppress others with your words or actions or attempt to control or coerce them to do your bidding.
2. “false accusation” – to accuse someone falsely is of course lying. No one likes a liar but all of us lie. If you struggle with truth-telling, consider why you do it. Is it to be liked? To spare someone’s feelings? Is it to hurt them?
3. “malicious speech” – just like lying, no one likes to be the target of gossip yet we gossip about one another. there is an entire branch of publishing (tabloids) that makes billions of dollars selling malicious speech.
Help Others:
4. “bestow your bread on the hungry” – tithe, give food, clothes and money to the poor.
5. “satisfy the afflicted” - be a source of support for those afflicted by mental, physical, emotional or spiritual distress.
“On the sabbath”:
6. “hold back your foot from following your own pursuits on my holy day” – Life is busy and it is easy to think that the sabbath is a day to catch up on things like shopping. Consider that when we shop on Sundays, we force other brothers and sisters to work.
7. “call the sabbath a delight” – I enjoyed this perspective on our holy day. The Church teaches that it is a day of celebration so we can delight in it.
Isaiah
If we do these 7 things, the prophet Isaiah said that:
“Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always
and give you plenty even on the parched land.He will renew your strength,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.”
I hope everyone has a blessed sabbath tomorrow. I pray each day for all of you.
†
You might also like these related posts from cinhosa:
Sharing an intimacy of faith
Drop everything and join me
What is the intent of your worship?
Given a choice, do you choose God?
Today we remember Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio - the angel of Mexico.
Tagged: Catholic, Christianity, faith, postaday2012, Protestant, religion
Good advice. I will keep this on my mind as I pray tonight.
“… He will renew your strength,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.”
“I am a Pharisee when I think I can take over for God as I judge the actions of others.” A statement so true!!! We fall into this trap so quickly and easily because I believe we come by it naturally. I teach small children and they do this spontaneously. To be aware when we are tempted to display these actions and words indicates maturity. We are commissioned by Christ in Acts, to “be my witness…” This is an act of sharing not imposing personally held beliefs and ideas upon another. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. Great post. Thank you for sharing. God bless you as you continue to share.
I see lot’s of “works” here. What about reading and preaching the Gospel? Just a question?
Hi Brian,
Thank you for this question. I write about topics that come from the daily readings. The first reading was from Isaiah 58:9b-14 and Gospel reading from Luke 5:27-32 for this reflection (You can read them here). The topics in these readings were not about preaching. Isaiah suggested ways we can honor the sabbath. Luke’s passage was about Levi (Matthew) choosing Jesus and criticism of Jesus for spending time with sinners.
So, since preaching the Gospel was not part of the lessons today, I did not make it a point in this post. Here’s a couple of posts that are on the topic of preaching the Gospel:
When you are summoned by Jesus
Warning: avoid these mistakes when you preach the Gospel.
In terms of reading the Gospel – that’s what happens every day at Catholic mass, throughout the world. The Catholic Church refers to this as the Liturgy of the Word. On weekdays in this liturgy, there are two readings, The first one is usually from the Old Testament and the Gospel reading is from the New Testament. On Sundays and special days like Good Friday, there is a ‘second reading’ in between the first reading and the Gospel reading.
The scripture readings I refer to in my daily posts comes from the schedule of readings.
I used to read the scripture readings each day (almost!) and they would not stick with me. So, I started writing some thoughts on the scripture readings in a diary. It bore a lot of spiritual fruit for me for two reasons. First, writing about the scripture readings helps me understand my faith better because I would slow down and think about the message and lessons. Second, I am able to remember them afterward. Carrying the scripture lessons helps me integrate them into my life and also they are “at the ready” if an opportunity comes to preach the Gospel, particularly with my family.
After a while of writing in my diary, I decided to write them on my blog as I find that it is easier to reference my thoughts for a particular topic.
Now that I wrote all of this out, I think I should include it in an ‘about’ link. I’m wondering if other readers like you have the same question?
Thank you!
†
This is nearly identical to the process I use each morning. I too find it helps the scripture ‘stick’ and allows the time for the Holy Spirit to speak to me. I shut down and listen when following this format. God bless.
Fantastic post, and very timely, as we start the Lenten season. I am so often guilty of not savoring my Sundays, but using them to clean, grocery shop, etc. It is sad that our lives have become so full of mundane things that most of us have difficultly limiting our Sunday activities to those that are spiritually nourishing.
Excellent Cinhosa. Thanks for posting. God Bless, SR
I really like this post. God comes first. There is a difference between judging others and judging actions. We have to be able to discern if something is objectively wrong. But we don’t necessarily have to criticize the person because we don’t know the person’s heart. Such as, abortion is evil, but women who have abortions are not necessarily evil. It’s a fine line we must all walk.
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