Monday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
The criticism that Jesus levies at the scribes and Pharisees in the Gospel today is essentially rooted in the fact that they have prioritized external practices for selfish reasons at the expense of their interior spiritual lives. Instead of performing their duties with any kind of real reverence or humble, pious desires for authentic relationship with God, they are merely going through the motions and using their offices to serve their own prideful desires for riches, honor, and self-promotion. In short, their spiritual practices have lost their saltiness (Matt. 5:13).
It’s important to note that Jesus is not criticizing adherence to religious law or fidelity to traditional practices. In and of themselves, these are very important and necessary things. What Jesus *is* criticizing is the spirit of intentionality with which the Pharisees and scribes are executing their offices. They are not coming from a place of loving desire for relationship with God or others. Rather, their religious practices have become transactional and self-serving. This lesson presents an opportunity for self-reflection in our own lives. What are our motivations for our own religious practices? Why do we do what we do? Are we perhaps focused on things like external praise and recognition, or do we engage in religious practices with a sincere desire to seek, know, and love the Lord?