Imagine an apple
pregnant with juice that satisfies.
You bite into it.
But its rotting interior disgusts you.
Imagine a coloured vessel
standing in the morning sunlight: it shimmers; it sparkles; it shines.
Enchanted, you reach for it.
But its plastic feel saddens you.
Imagine a friend
who says: “I care for you; I am here for you; I love you; you are my friend.”
You get to know her better.
Then, you discover her actions don’t always match her words.
And, you feel cheated. (I would too.)
An apple; a vessel; a friend.
We value each of these
in different ways, for different reasons.
But in our eyes, we behold each of them beautiful.
Sometimes however they disappoint us:
they are less than beautiful; they are ugly.
I‘d like to believe Jesus has such an experience
when he beholds the Pharisee in today’s Gospel.
God created the Pharisee.
In his image and likeness, God created him good.
In God’s eyes, he is beautiful.
However, when Pharisee ritually cleans the cup and dish,
but neglects to cleans out the plunder and evil in their hearts,
he disfigures his beauty.
Even though he observes God’s Law,
and appears good and holy,
his heart remains dark and ugly.
His action diminishes the beauty of God in him.
Hypocrisy is his sin.
It scars, it stains, it soils his beauty.
This saddens Jesus.
It disappoints him.
It angers him
because the Pharisee forgets who he really is: God’s beloved
who is beautiful in God’s eyes,
and who is called to see beauty in others.
Jesus confronts the Pharisee.
But he also confronts you and me right here, right now…
we who are sometimes as hypocritical as the Pharisees, are we not?
We say we are Christians
but our actions are sometimes not Chris-like:
we do not care for the stranger;
we refuse to forgive our enemies.
We confess we believe in God
but often we put our trust and hope in other gods:
idol gods we call riches, fame and honour.
We proclaim that we are God’s people,
redeemed and part of God’s kingdom
but we exclude others from it:
we oppress the lesser; we discriminate the different; we condemned the sinful.
Today, Jesus challenges us.
He is asking: are you who proclaim God’s Kingdom,
God’s saving action of Peace, Justice and Love, to one and all,
are you making this Good News alive with your lips only,
or with your heart too?
Jesus’ challenge is harsh.
It is because he wants us to pause, to step back and to honestly examine
the quality of how we are living our humanity:
are we doing this beautifully
in God, with God and for God and all his peoples?
Jesus does this because he loves and cares for us:
he wants us to mend our ways and to become better persons,
people who can live beautiful lives for ourselves and others.
As we come to the Eucharist,
I wonder how you and I will answer Jesus’ question:
Do your words and actions match your heart?
This is a homily I prepared and preached as part of my class in liturgical preaching.
photo: mother and child by adsj (new york; june 2010)
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