DAILY MEDITATION: “Cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”

Liturgical day: Tuesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel text (Mt 23,23-26): Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”

“Cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”

Fr. Austin NORRIS
(Mumbai, India)

Today we seem to catch Jesus in a foul mood —someone must have really gotten him upset; upset with false religiosity, pompous claims and egoistic piety. He has sensed the lack of love, i.e., “judgment and mercy and fidelity” (Mt 23, 23), behind the superficial actions of trying to fulfill the Law. Jesus embodies all these in his person and ministry. He was justice, mercy and faith. His actions, miracles, healings and pronouncements exuded all these true fundamentals which flowed from his loving heart. For Jesus, it was not the matter of the law, but the matter of the heart…

Even in the words of chastisement, we see a hand of love held out by Jesus, to those who would want to come back to the basics: “You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6, 8). Pope Francis said: “A little mercy makes the world less cold and more just. We need to understand properly this mercy of God, this merciful Father who is so patient... Let us remember the Prophet Isaiah who says that even if our sins were scarlet, God's love would make them white as snow. This mercy is beautiful!”

“Cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean” (Mt 23, 26). How true this is for each of us! We know how personal cleanliness makes us feel fresh and vibrant within and without. Even more so in the spiritual and moral realm, our inner self/spirit, if clean and wholesome, will shine forth in good deeds and actions, that “all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father” (Jn 5, 23). Let us look at the bigger picture of love, justice and faith and not settle for the smaller nitty-gritty which consumes our time and makes us small and petty. Let us jump into the vast ocean of God’s love and not be satisfied with the rivulets of pettiness.

Source: evangeli.net