6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 12, 2017
Matthew 5:20-37
“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 5:20)”
The word ‘Pharisee’ has a rather negative connotation for us. In the Gospels, they are the bad guys. They often argued with Jesus and Jesus challenged their way of life. Even some planned to get rid of Jesus (see Mat 12:14). In our time, the term ‘Pharisaic’ simply means hypocrite.
However, if we look from another angle, the Pharisees are not that ugly. In the time of Jesus, they had important roles to play. They, in fact, revolutionized the Jewish society itself. What did they do? They brought the Law, various rituals and devotional practices from the Temple of Jerusalem to the Jewish communities and families in Israel. Many Pharisees took care of the local synagogues and made sure that the people would observe properly the Law and its traditions, like the Sabbath and rituals of cleansing. Unlike the priests who served in the Temple, the Pharisees were lay people who loved the Law in their ordinariness of life. Thus, when the Temple was destroyed by the Roman army in 70 AD, the priestly clan also disappeared, but the Jewish cultural fabrics and religion continued to live because of the Pharisees, the lay people.
Jesus criticized them not because they were following the Law and traditions, but because of their ‘interpretations’ of the Law. Doubtless, the Pharisees loved the Law of Moses dearly, but they fell into fundamentalism. They absolutized the letters of the Law and the traditions, and trivialized what or who is actually at the service of the Law: God and fellow human beings. To become a fundamentalist means we opt to follow the dead letters of the Law of the Bible, which is easier, rather than to dialogue with the Person behind it and persons in front of it.
Without realizing it, many of us are acting like the Pharisees. Like them, we love God, His Law, and His Church, but sometimes, we are too busy with the trivial things. I am sad when some people are arguing on how to receive the Holy Eucharist, kneeling, standing, by hands or directly to the mouth. Some accuse Charismatic mass as heretical. Others label the Latin Mass as ultra-conservative. I am also saddened with a young Catholic apologist who is zealously debating on the Internet, yet does not lift a finger to help his sick mother. Yes, Sacred Scripture and the Liturgy is an essential part of our faith as the exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ and means of salvation, but if we are disintegrated because of details of the rituals, we miss the point.
We forget to transform our love for God and His Church into love for others. St. Dominic sold his expensive books made of animal skins so he could feed the poor, and argued, “Would you have me study from these dead skins when the living skins are dying of hunger?” Who among us are involved in feeding the poor around us? Who among us are doing something meaningful to the victims of injustice in the society? Who among us have the patience towards our ‘difficult’ brothers and sisters in the family or community? Remember that we are called to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees.
Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP