Practice

I have been wondering, will I be remembered as a Pharisee or as a Saint?

The Pharisees Question Jesus (James Tissot)

It is strange and interesting to me, the things that Christ chose to pick on as sinful during His time on Earth.  He was of course against EVERY sin, but it is very easy to see that there were certain sins that really riled Him up.  In other words, there were certain sins among His community that caused Him to speak out more loudly.

He did not like hypocrisy.  Christ would not accept that the Pharisees would create a set of rules for people to follow when the rules were impossible to be followed and when those rules promoted the letter of the law rather than its spirit.  This is not to say that Christ of His mother chose to disregard the rules of the Law.  Rather, they complied with those rules.  The Blessed Virgin – who was without sin – followed the rules of ritual cleansing after the birth of Christ and “when the days of her purification had passed” (Luke 2:22) she travelled with Him and Saint Joseph to the Temple to make the appropriate offerings under the Law.

And then Christ was also upset by the disrespect of God through the money lenders at the Temple, where once again the rule of law took precedence over the spirit of the Law…

“Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honour at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’” (Matthew 23:1-12).

Christ set an example through His own life.  He was unlike the Pharisees because He was willing to do what needed to be done to ensure that we could see an example to follow.  British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge was an agnostic Communist sympathiser, who, in 1982, explained that he converted o the Catholic Faith die to the good example of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who he saw as “living the Gospel in real life”.  Muggeridge wrote in The Times, “Words cannot express how much I owe her, she showed me Christianity in action. She showed me the power of love. She showed me how one loving person can start a tidal wave of love that can spread to the entire world.”

And I have been thinking about that today as I have been thinking about the practice of my faith, and I have been wondering, will I be remembered as a Pharisee or as a Saint?

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.