Today we hear the Pharisees again challenging Jesus.  Many Pharisees and scribes were so good at observing their many Jewish traditions but when it came to living their faith they were miserably very deficient. The Pharisees and the scribes were very particular of the fake exterior, the pretence. But Jesus is very particular on the pure interior, the real us, the things that we do when nobody’s around to see.

Are we strict observers of our faith’s many traditions? Nothing is wrong with this in fact this is very good. However, observing our faith’s tradition becomes useless when we don’t live our faith. For example, the teaching of Jesus about forgiveness, what is good with observing our faiths tradition if we don’t forgive? Another example is the teaching of Jesus about loving our enemies, what is good with strictly observing the tradition if we don’t love our enemies?    

Whatever image of ourselves  we want to project  to others is not what God sees.  He  sees the inner self,  the real person, the things we may want to keep hidden. 

We need to try to get  back to what is essential in our life with Christ. Do we give more importance to customs and likes, rather than to what Christ asks of us through His Church? Are we  missing the mark by putting more focus on the means to the end, rather than on the end itself – Christ?

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