by Fr. Tommy Lane
In the Scripture readings today we hear challenges to the Jewish Old Covenant priests in the first reading (Mal 1-2), and we hear critiques of lay people called Pharisees, and theologians called scribes, in the Gospel (Matt 23:1-12). So the Scripture readings today address all sectors in the Jewish religious world: their priests, laypeople, and theologians.
The prophet Malachi, who ministered in the 400s BC on behalf of God, reprimanded the Old Covenant Jewish priests in our first reading (Mal 1-2). The Jewish priesthood was prone to having problems because the priesthood was passed on in the families descended from Moses’ brother Aaron and all males in those families were ordained priests when they reached a certain age. So it wasn’t that they received a vocation to be a priest; instead they were, practically speaking, born priests and just waited until they were old enough to be ordained priests. We can well imagine that not all of them would have taken it seriously since it was not their choosing. I sometimes wonder if the problems we have experienced in our priesthood were due to parents or society having a vocation for their son to be priest instead of the man himself really being called by God to be a priest.
In the Gospel (Matt 23:1-12), we hear Jesus critiquing the scribes and Pharisees. There were about 6,000 Pharisees at the time of Jesus. Just as we have groups to help people live their Catholic faith more intensely such as Communion and Liberation, Focolare, the Legion of Mary, prayer groups, adult faith formation groups, and many others, the Pharisees were lay people whose intention was to live their Jewish faith in a more intense way. The problem was that by the time of Jesus, they had become legalistic and were not living the faith they professed. The scribes were the experts in explaining the Old Testament so in our language today we would say they were theologians or Scripture scholars. Most of the scribes were also Pharisees. From our reading of other passages in the Gospel, we know that Jesus approved of some of what they were teaching but not everything. In today’s Gospel, Jesus found fault with their teaching because their understanding of the Old Testament put a burden on people instead of uplifting people. Faith in God uplifts us. Jesus said they were on the chair of Moses so they were teaching with authority, but they did not practice what they taught. It is one thing to fail to live up to one’s faith due to human weakness, but another thing to knowingly not live one’s faith which seems to be what they were doing. But they were not all like that. One Pharisee whom you hear about every Easter is Nicodemus because at the end of John’s Gospel we read that Nicodemus assisted in the burial of Jesus. The most famous Pharisee was St. Paul before his conversion. He was a very zealous Pharisee before he met Jesus in blinding light on the road to Damascus (see Phil 3:5).
The challenges to the Jewish Old Covenant priesthood in the first reading and critiques of the lay people in the Gospel who were Pharisees and scribes encourage us to think about our living of our faith. Elsewhere I have encountered many who became Catholic after a conversion experience and meeting the Lord in some way, often through suffering or seeking answers and finding the answers only in our Catholic faith. Obviously, such people have a strong faith and desire to continue to grow in understanding our faith. Here, most are baptized as infants, which is good. But just as the Jewish Old Covenant priesthood was prone to problems because they were, in a manner of speaking, born priests, baptism is not just for a day; it is for life. If someone married and split with the spouse at the end of the day, it would be beyond strange. Baptism, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation are not just for a day, but for life. They are moments of encountering Jesus and then living that relationship with Jesus for life. And living that relationship with Jesus for life is not a burden but uplifts us.
Jesus complained that the scribes and Pharisees laid burdens on people and would not lift a finger to move them (Matt 23:4). We see that very clearly on those occasions when Jesus healed people of their illnesses on the sabbath and the Pharisees complained that Jesus was breaking the law, that is, in their scribes’ understanding of the law. In John’s Gospel Jesus said he came that we may have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Faith is not an additional burden on life; rather it is liberating and freeing and uplifting. It is what gives meaning to life.
Jesus wants your heart close to his heart. Jesus wants your love, your time, your commitment, not just externals that look good for a day. Jesus doesn’t want you to just decorate the storefront window of your heart for a day while inside is far from him; Jesus wants the decorated storefront window of your heart to reflect a beautiful heart for him inside. Jesus wants your commitment, your time, and your love.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2023
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Thirty-First Sunday of Year A
Have we not all one Father? The greatest among you must be your servant
Related Homilies: The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Priests are spiritual fathers 2014
Serving others and mental health
First Reading Related: Purification of the Old Testament Priesthood 2010
stories about service humility