Luke 11:37-41

Romans 1:16-25

Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5

Luke 11:37-41

After Jesus had spoken,

a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.

He entered and reclined at table to eat.

The Pharisee was amazed to see

that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.

The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!

Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,

inside you are filled with plunder and evil.

You fools!

Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?

But as to what is within, give alms,

and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, do not let me follow the way of foolishness that leads to death and separation from you. Do not let me be a hypocrite. I pray that I may grow in true holiness through the gift of your grace and truly serve my brothers and sisters in need.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Give Alms and Everything Will Be Clean: Jesus’ teaching about almsgiving in the Gospel is rooted in the Old Testament. The Book of Tobit teaches: “almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin” (Tobit 12:9). This is echoed in the Book of Sirach, which says: “alms atone for sins” (Sirach 3:29). Jesus was dining at a Pharisee’s home and needed to correct the Pharisee’s understanding of being pure and clean. Almsgiving cleanses inner defilement and accomplishes what ritual washings cannot (see Martin, Bringing the Gospel of Luke to Life, 333). This was an important teaching because the Pharisees were so influential in Jesus’ day. The religious program of the Pharisees was actually at odds with Jesus’s inauguration of the New Covenant. The Pharisees thought that they could be faithful to God by separating themselves from all Gentile impurity and defilement. They thought that this would lead to God intervening and saving them from Roman oppression. “They looked to the Temple and priests of Jerusalem, considering the elaborate purity requirements for priests (Leviticus 21-22) a fitting model for Jewish purity in the homes of laypeople. All Israelites, the Pharisees reasoned, should maintain this high level of priestlike holiness in their personal lives” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 1792). The Pharisee in today’s Gospel was shocked that Jesus didn’t follow the prescribed washings. He showed that he was oblivious to the real holiness, innocent purity, and high priesthood of Jesus. And Jesus takes the opportunity to correct the Pharisee and teach that it is not through ceremonial washings that one becomes pure and holy, but through giving oneself to others in charity.

2. The Gospel according to Paul: In the First Reading, Paul proclaims that he was not embarrassed to spread the Gospel. He wants the whole world – Jews and Gentiles – to come to know the saving message of Jesus Christ. “At the heart of Paul’s letter to the Romans is the gospel, the good news of salvation that was ‘promised beforehand’ (Romans 1:2). The people of Israel have longed to hear this good news. For Paul, the gospel is the culmination of God’s promises to Abraham and David: God has fulfilled these promises through Jesus” (Swafford and Cavins, Romans: The Gospel of Salvation, 9). Unlike what Martin Luther thought, the Jewish people did not believe in works-righteousness, i.e., that their obedience to the Law of Moses earned them the right to salvation. Instead, Judaism “firmly believed that the election of the Jews was an unmerited blessing from God (see Deuteronomy 9:4-7). Obedience to the law was the free response to God’s invitation to holiness. The initiative for salvation came squarely from the side of God, not the Jews themselves. By saying that the Jews have already been under the obedience of faith, Paul shows that the key for the Jews’ membership in the covenant was the faith in God expressed through obedience to his law. Jesus Christ perfectly embodied this obedience of faith and thus fulfilled the law. It is by faith in him that both Jews and Gentiles now receive the unmerited gift of justification” (Dauphinais and Levering, Holy People, Holy Land, 195).

3. One Way of Salvation: The way to righteousness and salvation – the obedience of faith in Jesus Christ – is the same for both Jews and Gentiles. There are not two separate paths of salvation, one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles, but only one path. We are made righteous “through faith for faith.” We are initially brought into a right relationship with God through faith. This is an unmerited gift. Even our act of faith and trust in God begins in God, who moves our hearts to faith. And our initial faith is called to grow and develop over time. Our Christian faith needs to flourish in love. Paul envisions that the Christian life begins in faith and advances by faith. This is not a completely new teaching, but one rooted and hidden, so to speak, in the Old Testament. And here, Paul cites the prophet Habakkuk, who taught: “The one who is righteous by faith will live” (Habakkuk 2:4). What Paul will argue next is that both Gentiles and Jews are in the same situation of sin. The Gentiles were able to discern God’s existence through creation and were obliged to follow the natural law written on their heart. But instead of worshipping the Creator of all things, they worshipped false gods and creatures. Instead of living a moral life, they fell into impurity and lust: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator” (Romans 1:25).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, guide my life of faith. Nourish it with your Spirit and make it grow and flourish. I want to imitate you in all that I do, say, and think. I desire to share in your life more fully.

Living the Word of God: What are the ways I give alms? Am I using all my creative talents to thoughtfully serve others? Am I generous with my wealth and my time? What are the works of charity my business is supporting?