THE WORD
Rom 2: 1–11 / Lk 11: 42–46
Jesus 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.”
IN OTHER WORDS
The Germans say: “Das Leben ist hart genug!” “Life is hard enough!” Though they are among the richest people in the world, they know and acknowledge the fact that life is difficult. That is why they have gained the reputation of being among the most disciplined and most hardworking people in the world. Comfort has its price.
Jesus criticized the devout Pharisees and experts of the Jewish Law: “You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.” The law experts and the Pharisees are teachers and persons of authority in Judaism. As such, they have the power to interpret the law of God, as well as instruct people what to do and what to avoid in order to be considered upright. Many of them, however, abuse their power of legislation and instruction.
So much so that instead of helping people, they add more burden to their already difficult circumstances.
We too could ask ourselves as a community of believers and as individual Christians: Do we help make peoples’ lives easier, or are we complicating their lives and making them suffer more by requiring from them more than what we ourselves are willing to do?
- Roberto C. Alda, Jr. SVD (Wendel, Germany)
The Word in other words 2015
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
