Jesus usually reserved his harshest criticism for the religious leaders of his day. He saw them as hypocritical – hiding behind the letter of the law while ignoring the spirit of the law, and in so doing placing burdens on the people rather than ministering to their spiritual and material needs.
In today’s gospel (Luke 11:37-41) we hear about one of those encounters between Jesus and the Pharisees. Jesus points out that it is not what is exterior that is important but what is inside of us. It is our interior dispositions and attitudes that are important since they in turn drive our actions and ensure that our actions are based on good intentions rather than on self-interest. In this encounter Jesus, as always, provides the Pharisees with an opportunity to right themselves. He tells them to “give alms” – to care and provide for others. Jesus’ message is always very simple and this is no exception.
And this is the same message for us. We are simply asked to care for each other. We are asked to adopt an attitude of humility and selflessness so that we will be inclined to put others – most especially the needy – ahead of ourselves.
While the message is simple, following through is not always easy. For many of us, putting others before ourselves is a struggle as we are inclined almost automatically to prioritize our self-interest first. But God asks us to battle this inclination. And maybe the best way to win this struggle is to realize that we can only give to others what we ourselves possess. So if we are asked to give – if we are asked to reflect God’s goodness and love to others – we must first possess that goodness and love.
So maybe the key thing in our quest to be giving and self-sacrificing people is to get closer to God and allow him to fill us up with his love and goodness. And then we can share that love and goodness with each other. As we more and more allow God to possess us, and as we come to possess God, we not only have more to share but we also have more of a willingness and ability to share. We develop that grace-filled strength of character to put others before ourselves.
So we continue on our journey, disposing ourselves with open hearts and minds to God, so that we can share what we come to possess.