Matthew 23: 27-32
Jesus said:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Fresh Air of the Spirit
When I read today’s Gospel, I am reminded of the aphorism, “Be kind always, everyone is fighting a battle we know nothing about.” It’s easy for me to judge the leaders being called out by Jesus: for their *perfect* sparkly appearances while simultaneously being filled interiorly with death and decay.
But then in my prayer, I pause. I pause because I know that interior experience of death and decay. I know what it’s like to hold something within me, secret and festering, because it feels too shameful or burdensome to share... even if I appear “fine” on the outside.
And then I remember the wisdom of St. Ignatius who counsels that the enemy-of-our-good wants to keep us living in shame... hiding and fearful of being exposed. The antidote to shame is to open the tombs of our hearts to trusted individuals (perhaps in spiritual direction, therapy, or confession), allowing the fresh air of the Spirit and the light of Christ to enter in, gently refreshing our souls and restoring us to life.
Let us become people who allow the Spirit to flow, not only into our own stale and fearful hearts, but for all people, even the supposed or self-proclaimed *perfect* sparkly people who, most likely, are also fighting a battle we know nothing about.
—Laura Gilmartin is the Grants Manager and Facilitator of Urban Plunge immersion retreats at Casa Romero Jesuit Renewal Center, serves on the leadership team of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps of Milwaukee, and maintains a private spiritual care practice for monthly spiritual direction as well as the accompaniment of people through The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. She completed her formation to serve in this capacity through the Seminars in Ignatian Formation with the Midwest Province of Jesuits.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, who blows where You will,
We open our hearts to Your refreshing breeze.
May you bring freshness into our staleness,
Solace to our shame,
And freedom where we know fear.
Help us to remember
That we can be both beautiful and bound.
Please free us, cleanse us, and restore us to life. Amen.
—Laura Gilmartin