27/03/2023

Scribes, Priests, Elders, Sadducees  and Pharisees do not get a very good press in the New Testament. We tend to see them as a "brood of vipers", "whited sepulchres" whose sole purpose is to frustrate the Son in his teaching and to ultimately put him to death. Their reality is that just as all the disciples of Jesus they believed in the teaching of the Old Testament and tried to put God first in their lives by pondering the Word recorded in the books of the Old Testament.

Today our religious leaders Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, Abbots and Priests do not get a good press in this age. They do not deserve one. The words of Jesus that tell us that we should listen to the words of the Pharisees but not follow their example are especially true of the Institution that the Catholic Church very quickly became once it started to take a role in the things of this world. 

"My kingdom is not of this world". "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's". These sayings are direct commands of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In yesterday's reading from St Paul he tells the Roman Church. "People who are only interested in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God".

The disgrace that was the Church warring for centuries about control of territory is still with us in Dioceses that struggle to optimize the return on capital and in so doing employ the "publicans" of today; lawyers and accountants, servants of Mammon which is totally "Caesar's.

God has always been in the covenants of the Old Testament. He is still truly present in the Sacraments of the Church. He is the Word that we read in the whole Bible. We have to look hard to find him but he is still our Good Shepherd in the Church he founded on Earth. 

Susannah's accusers paid the ultimate price for their evil hypocrisy. Jesus challenged the Pharisees who demanded the death penalty and still challenges us to check out our own souls before condemning others. The Pharisees had to accept the undeniable truth about themselves and walked away. Good for them! 

Lord, where can I go? You have the message of eternal Life.

Dear Lord you know that I can be nothing without your grace. Let me be sincere in my preparations for your Great Week. Let me be guided only by your Holy Spirit to abandon the things of this world and put all my trust in you. May your Mother lead all the Saints in prayer that the integrity of the Church return to that of the days of the Apostles without the jealous squabbling for rank in the eyes of the world  that marred her then and still today. Let us all put God first in our lives.