Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time A
October 30, 2011

Reading I: Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10
Responsorial Psalm: 131:1, 2, 3
Reading II: 1 Thessalonians 2:7b-9, 13
Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12


Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
"The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people's shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'
As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.'
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called 'Master';
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."


To read some commentators you would think that the conflict with the Pharisees was something that belonged to the life and times of Jesus and the early christian communities, and is today irrelevant except in very broad terms. However, the fact that this material has been included in the written gospel would indicate that the teachings and the warnings are for all times. The pious and scholarly in every age have to be on guard against certain subtle abberations that they may hardly notice, but which can affect their judgement and corrupt their teaching, even their lives.

Most commentaries glide lightly over the individual items in this reading. Michael De Verteuil is an exception. He offers a guide for reflection that goes to the heart of the matter.  http://www.catholicireland.net/liturgysacraments/sunday-homily-resources-year-a


Pharisees, then and now

We need to understand that the Pharisees were not bad people. They were the best of the best at that time. Paul was proud to say he was a Pharisee before his encounter with Christ. The Pharisees wanted to promote religious practice among the common people, with a bias towards the spiritual interpretations of the prophets, in contrast to the elitisim and legalism of the Sadducees who were aligned with the establishment and the temple priesthood, The Pharisees have been described as "democratic", as opposed to the hierarchical rule from above favoured by the Sadducees. See: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12087-pharisees

In the gospel record the Pharisees appear as the major critics and opponents of Jesus. His teaching of a deeper level of spirituality that went beyond the law, and his popularity, were seen by them as threatening both their role as interpreters of the law and their standing in the community. As time went on their opposition grew more critical and more aggressive, but Jesus was not intimidated by their censures. He confronted them in the most forthright manner, charging them with inconsistencies in their interpretations of the law, with lack of compassion in their application of it, and with hypocrisy in the gap between their ideals and their lives. The very strident tone of his criticism should make us sit up and take notice. This selection, together with the rest of Chapter 23, is of the greatest importance.

Certain traps are pointed out in this gospel passage, major pitfalls which anyone who takes religion seriously may fall into. Those who take on the role of teachers, leaders or guides, not to mention overseers and supremos, are severely warned to be aware of them. Currently there is enormous ferment in the churches as ordinary people become aware of the gross failures of the hierarchy precisely in ways outlined in detail in this gospel passage. To look at the Roman Catholic Church you would think that this chapter of Matthew's gospel did not exist. In style and in practice it is in total denial of the gospel teaching. It is worth considering that this has nothing to do with religion as such. This is a simple matter of human integrity, but the sense of self-importance that leadership in the religious context engenders leads to a skewed vision, a blindness of which they, absorbed as they are in their exalted role, are fatally unconscious.


"The scribes and Pharisees have sat on the chair of Moses." The verb here is very interesting. Most English translations say simply that they "sit on the chair of Moses", meaning that they teach with some authority about the law. This leaves open the question that the Pharisees themselves put to Jesus: By what authority...? The Pharisees were not formally commissioned to teach the law. They were not endowed with authority as, for example, a court is endowed with authority to interpret civil law today. Their 'authority' was in their scholarship, and therefore was dependent on the integrity of their research and the honesty of their debate, their peer review. Jesus points out that their 'authority' was totally undermined by the bad example given in their way of life.

While the standard of practice of the law was a matter of common consent, the scholars (scribes) and groups like the Pharisees and Sadducees tended to impose their interpretations on the people at large, while they engaged in fierce competition among themselves for influence and prestige. The wording of the gospel seems to refer to this: "The scribes and Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses", or as the Jerusalem Bible puts it with great subtlety, they "occupy" the chair of Moses. There is no suggestion that this is illegitimate or an illegal occupation, but it does seem to imply that these are human interpreters. Hence when Jesus says: You should follow what they teach, he seems to approve of their teaching as  a genuiine attempt to understand the law of Moses, but as for their practice - that's another matter.


"But do not follow their example". Do what they teach but don't follow their way of living. In other words, keep your wits about you. When it comes to your own life, you have to think for yourself. Even as you learn from teachers, you are responsible for the what you do. Do not blindly follow someone else. Jesus is teaching that each person must develop their own conscience and take responsibility for how they put into practice what is required of them.

De Verteuil, as cited above, says that "this passage has been crucially important for the development of our church's wonderful teaching on the primacy of the individual conscience." And he mentions some of the "great theologians who have courageously upheld this teaching in the face of authoritarian tendencies in the Church."


From this viewpoint, the rest of the passage becomes a charter for the personal development of the individual who follows the way opened up by Jesus.

As for you...

No one is to be called "teacher". There is only one teacher and you are all brothers [i.e., equals].

Call no one on earth "father".  The respect that goes with that title belongs only to God in heaven [who cannot be seen]. And so the respect you give to God, as child to parent, is personal, individual and secret - what today we call conscience.

Do not be called 'master': you have one master, the Christ. A 'master', as distinct from a teacher, can command obedience, can give directions that you are obliged to follow. If you are not to allow others to call you 'Master', neither must you allow others to "master' over your, treating you as if they had authority to tell you what to do.

None of this, of course, renders the normal functioning of society invalid. Common sense tells us that in life we need both teachers from whom we learn by following their guidance, and masters who must be obeyed for the common good, like police and other officers who have authority in the community.

In the way of Jesus, however,  in contrast to the way of the Pharisees which was best practice at that time, you must make your own decisions, make up your own mind, and follow your own conscience. In the last analysis, anything else is mere conformity to a program devised by other people rather than a response of the mind and heart to the will of God.

So how do we know what is the will of God for us? Well, common sense would indicate that it cannot be some big secret, or such a mystery that we would have to find an expert to decipher it. In fact, the will of God is confronting us at every moment in the challenge of life itself. Work out the best path and get on with it: that is what God wills for you to do.


Here Jesus is again trying to impart something that can easily escape the attention of the most eager and generous among those who would seek God:
 
From the mistakes of the Pharisees learn
that the attempt to know, love and serve God
can lead to a form of vanity
that is hard to recognise in oneself,
pride in the very pursuit of goodness
which leads you to see yourself as superior to others.
This is the opposite of the truth,
which is that we are all equal, all 'brothers & sisters', and all 'fallible'.