October 13, 2020

Lk 11: 37-41

While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you.

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.

Aligning our hearts with God

When invited to a dinner party, I like to look my best. I pick out my best collared shirt and (for once!) iron it. I shine my shoes and buy a good bottle of wine to share. I do this because I care about people’s opinions of me.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is far from the ideal dinner guest. After accepting the Pharisee’s invitation, Jesus refuses to wash his hands and ridicules his host for having misaligned priorities.

Were Jesus’ table manners really that awful? Maybe! At minimum, we learn that some things matter more to him than being polite and presentable. Jesus knows the Pharisees’ hearts and their preoccupation with status. He is trying to shake some sense into them.

We might take a minute today to reflect on our priorities: do we care too much about impressing others? Or are our hearts aligned with what truly matters to God?

—Dan Dixon, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic of the Midwest Province studying at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA. 

Prayer

A clean heart create for me, O God
And a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
And your holy spirit take not from me.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
And a willing spirit sustain in me.

—Ps 51: 12-14