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Gospel Reading for October 16, 2024 – Luke 11: 42-46
MISLEAD
The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”
Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”
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What did Jesus mean when he compared the Pharisees to “unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”? Maybe, Jesus meant that with all their hypocrisy, they MISLEAD people into believing that they are pure and holy, have to be admired and looked up to, when in fact they are “unclean dead bones in whitewashed tombs.” (Matthew 23: 27-28)
This is a very important reminder for those of us who are in the service of the Church, or who in one way or another influence other people in the Faith. What a tragedy if after spending so much of our time or our life in matters of the Faith, we fail at the Last Judgment with Christ himself as our Judge!
Lord Jesus, teach us to be true to you always!
