“The people of today would rather stand next to a man with no substance but covered in gold, rather than the man with substance and wisdom of gold. What if God was dressed as a carpenter with dirty nails and beaten boots? Would you recognize your Maker? Would you give him your time? Your vote? A cup of tea or water? Only those with truth in them will recognize truth. And you must learn to recognize all that is untrue to get the truth.”

  

A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.  - Thomas Paine: (1737  - 1736: was an English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary

 

Gospel Text: (MT 23:23-26)

Jesus said:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.”

 

Reflect, today, upon how easily the beauty of your interior life shines forth.  Do others see this?  Does your heart shine forth?  Are you radiant?  If not, perhaps you, too, need to hear these words Jesus spoke to the Pharisees.  You may also need to be chastised out of love and mercy so that you will be motivated to allow Jesus to enter in and act in a powerfully cleansing way.