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For the past several days, Jesus has been railing against the scribes and Pharisees. He calls them hypocrites, and rightly so, because they have been attending to details of the law while neglecting its spirit. As we listen to Jesus’ reproval, however, we must resist the temptation to ‘pile on’ and to add our own condemnation to those around us whose worship appears to us to be a façade. More important than ‘piling on’ is our ability to see the scribes and Pharisees with compassion. Indeed, this is the way that Jesus sees them, although for the moment for their own good He must unmask their hypocrisy. As Paul says in today’s letter, so ‘dearly beloved’ had the Thessalonians become to him and to his companions, that they gave the Thessalonians not only the Gospel, but their very selves as well. We should assume, which we do not always do, that Jesus considers the scribes and the Pharisees his ‘dearly beloved’ even though He must speak harshly to them at the moment.
There was a wonderful meditation from von Balthasar in yesterday’s Magnificat that shows convincingly how much easier it is to love than to be loved. Most of us have the fault of self-hatred; we discount the affection of others because we know they see us from the outside-in rather than from the inside-out. Were they to see in us not the outward qualities that they admire, but our true selves, we are afraid of what they would say and feel about us. Jesus says clearly to the scribes and Pharisees that it is not enough for them to be loved simply because the outside of their ‘cups’ are clean. No, they are meant to receive a much deeper love, a love that heals and that saves, if only they could overcome their fear of such a love. Jesus speaks harshly to them, and to us, because He truly loves us, and will not allow us to settle for less than He is ready to give.
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