The Catholic Calendar for Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Romans 1:16-25
Psalm 19:2-5
Luke 11:37-41

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

One week ago I was blessed to write about the sisters Martha and Mary and how they prepared for the Lord's visit to their home and asked the question: would the Lord feel welcome in our homes? Today, we read about Jesus visiting a Pharisee for a meal, so I ask this week, would Jesus feel welcome at our dining table and what would He find there?

In one of many instances in His ministry, today we see Jesus violating another of the old laws by failing to wash his hands prior to the meal. This brought some indignation from the Pharisee who never would have imagined not following the law down to the last letter. The result was that Jesus taught the Pharisee a lesson in what is truly righteous and how hypocritical the Pharisee and his sect were. They cleaned the outside (the hands), but the inside (the heart and soul) was dirty and corrupt.

What would Jesus find at our dining table? Would He find both the outside and inside of our cups, in other words our souls clean? Or, would He find us just going through the hand washing motions with no meaning since our insides were corrupt? Would He find true Christian love and friendship, or would He find a table of hypocrites so busy making our outside appear perfect that our insides were dying a slow death of neglect?

Like Jesus told the Pharisee, "But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you." This giving of ourselves, our alms, in love, kindness, friendship, forgiveness and mercy is the road to cleaning up our insides. Yes, our Lord would be hard on us, but He always shows us the way to redemption and perfection.

- Don Claunch, SFO
(dlclaunch at bresnan dot net)