HOMILY WEEK 30 05 – Year II
Checking our Attitudes: Legalistic or Loving?
(Phil 1:1-11; Ps 111; Lk 14:1-6)
********************************************
“How we do anything is how we do everything!”
That intriguing statement by Fr. Richard Rohr OFM touches on the message from today’s readings inviting us to check our attitudes around the way we live our faith lives. Are we living by the law of love, or out of love for the law?
There are two differing religious world-views present in today’s gospel. On the one hand, the Pharisees were mired in the world-view of legalism and law. Steeped in their belief that keeping minute rules and regulations to the letter was what constituted holiness, their focus was not on love and caring, but on judging others to see if they measured up to their own standards of conduct. That focus made them very judgemental and critical of others, which is why Luke writes “They were watching Jesus closely” when he went to dine at one of the Pharisee’s homes.
That attitude, which borders on Pelagianism, or the belief that one can earn one’s way into heaven, exists to this day. When in Jerusalem on a pilgrimage some years ago, our Israeli guide shared with us that for the most part, the foremost question on the minds of the faithful she knew was not how better they could love one another, but just what they needed to do to be a good Jew. They would also tend to choose to work with a rabbi who matched their mindset and would not challenge them too much.
We experienced that mentality ourselves when two of us were invited to a family’s home after a Sabbath service in the synagogue. When we arrived at their three-story apartment building, I asked if we could use the elevator because of my bad knee, and was told no because that would be work on the Sabbath. We also could not take a picture of the family, nor call a cab, as that would also be work on the Sabbath, so the kids had to escort us to where we could find one. The family bringing their own kosher food onto a plane during our trip home would be another example of this focus on keeping the law, which to my mind can allow the priority of love to fall into second place in one’s life. That was the case of the priest and the Levite who passed by the robbery victim on the way to Jericho in the story Jesus recounted about the Good Samaritan.
The gospel reveals that Jesus had just the opposite mentality. He was not worried at all about the minutiae of the law when he noticed the man with dropsy, and placed the legalists on the spot when he asked them if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. Their silence spoke volumes, for I am sure deep within they knew that it was, but that would bring down their house of cards they had built to provide themselves with a false security and impression of holiness.
Jesus, acting of the greater law of love, takes the man, heals him and sends him on his way. Again, he tries to get the lawyers and Pharisees to see the error of their ways and their spiritual attitudes by reminding them they would rescue and feed their own animals – so why not a much more precious human being. Again, their silence spoke volumes – convicted yet refusing to change, they could only put up a stiff upper lip, and sulk in silence.
For his part, St. Paul is a prime example of what Jesus was trying to help the Pharisees and lawyers become – someone who believed in him as the Messiah, and was now filled with joy, love, affirmation and the desire to share that good news with others. Saul, as he was known, was a zealous Jew, a learned Pharisee who studied under a master rabbi, and who felt it his duty to squash this new radical messianic movement started by an itinerant preacher, Jesus of Nazareth.
Paul’s encounter with Jesus as the Risen Lord transformed his worldview and his life. Now he believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the Messiah, and is filled with his Spirit. He can only speak words of love, peace, compassion, the joy of the gospel and grace to his beloved Philippians, as he encourages them to strive to be just like Jesus, holy, pure and blameless. They are to be a harvest of righteousness that can only come through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. That is the attitude we must all strive to attain!
It is that attitude that surfaced in a conversation I had with a brother bishop, Gary Gordon of the Diocese of Victoria lately. I happened to mention my involvement with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and he immediately exclaimed they were very involved in his diocese, doing great ministry, especially reaching out to the more remote and marginalized communities. They are incarnating that attitude of caring, love and compassion that Jesus longed for the Pharisees to have, and which St. Paul so totally manifested.
The Eucharist is an experience of the unconditional love of God reaching out to us, forming us with God’s word, and nourishing us with the very body and blood of Jesus. May our celebration empower us to grow in our faith in Jesus, and our ability to always put the law of love above any love for the law.
