Coffee With God

Reflection: Matthew 23:27-32

If we love our parents and the elderly, we shall take care of them, show them affection and care when they are alive. If you love your parents, take care of them when they are alive We come today to the last two of the seven ‘Woes’ which Jesus accuses against the Scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus denounces their hypocrisy with two examples. You are like whitewashed tombs… (vv.27-28). The tombs were whitewashed and kept clean both to show respect to the ancestors and to avoid people unknowingly stepping over the grave and become ritually unclean. Whitewashing made them more visible, especially in the dark. Matthew, while presenting the list of woes to the Jewish Christians, explains how Jesus denounced the external show of religious perfection, a message so relevant for our communities in the present time. Various groups in the Church fight for the tiniest details of the Canon Laws and liturgical rubrics, while our hearts and minds are full of pride and hatred and contempt for people who do not accept our views. So much of divisions and hatred are perpetrated in the Church over issues of liturgical rites and their rubrics and ironically, we celebrate the mystery of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice of love using these severely-fought rituals and rubrics. After a beautiful homily on forgiveness, mercy and love, if the priest goes about shouting at everyone around, Jesus would confer the title of “Whitewashed tombs” to us priests, for our pharisaic attitude and behaviour. Our Liturgical celebration is also an occasion to examine ourselves to identify our hypocrisy and make amendments to our lives. Mention of tombs leads Jesus to comment on the Pharisees’ pride over the tombs they have built in memory of the prophets and other holy people. Building monuments for the dead after killing them is a trend that exist even in our times. Have you come across children of the family who gather together at the death of their father or mother whom they refused to take care of when he or she was alive, and now organise a lavish funeral? A son or daughter who refuses to take care of the elderly parent is in effect killing them – leaving them to die. If we love our parents and the elderly, we shall take care of them, show them affection and care when they are alive and not after their death? If not, we will be like the Pharisees who were bragging about building tombs for the Prophets, after killing them!