Inner holiness

October 17, Tuesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary time
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr
Daily Readings: Romans 1:16–25, Luke 11:37–41

Jesus loves inner holiness and condemns hypocrisy. Mr. Bumble is a church officer in the famous novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Mr. Bumble preaches church principles as a church beadle, but he himself fails to live up to these lofty ideals. Once, a poor orphan boy, Oliver, asks him for more food, and he punishes him mercilessly. Bumble calls Oliver an orphan whom nobody can love. He demonstrated no compassion for the children in the orphanage. He often beat them and treated them badly. A clear example of a person who preached top principles but failed to demonstrate them in his own life This is hypocrisy, and this was the sin that Jesus condemned most vehemently in the scribes and pharisees.

In the Gospel, Luke 11:37–41, Jesus criticizes the pharisaic interpretation of religion. After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at the table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. Jesus said to him, "Oh, you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you, are filled with plunder and evil.

Jesus is reminding us that the one who made the outside also made the inside. If your inside is clean, then it will flow out into acts of charity and love. That is why he said, “But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

What Jesus condemned in the pharisees was hypocrisy. People who take religion only in the legal sense are hypocrites. For the Pharisees, holiness included ritual cleanliness. For example, the washing of hands before meals included all kinds of minute rules like how much water to use, how many fingers to wash, and how far the elbow had to be washed. There were strict taboos against unclean cups, jugs, kettles, and other items. They criticized Jesus and his disciples for not abiding by the prescriptions of the law. This made them uncomfortable. This is pharisaism.

The Lord looks at our inside more than our outside appearances. May we possess the right attitudes towards religion and religious practices so that our inner holiness flows out as charity and love.