Modern Day Pharisees?

Every Friday this school year, and there's only one more, I read Sunday's Gospel to my students. We discuss it as much as we can given the age group, and then color a corresponding coloring page. (psssst--Catholic educators and Moms: Sunday's Gospel coloring pages and word searches can be found at www.catholicmom.com. The site sucks otherwise. It's run by a group I'm not at all a fan of).

Anyway, this week's Gospel talks about Jesus dining at a Pharisee's house, some chick waltzing over the His feet, pouring oil all over them, crying on them, and getting her hair into an even hotter mess by wiping Jesus' feet with it. The Pharisee gets his panties in a bunch because Jesus is dealing with a sinful woman, Jesus tells them woman her sins are forgiven, tells the Pharisee that the Father rejoices when a sinner returns, and that's that.. To put it bluntly.

I am not going to take the typical "God forgives sinners," "No sin is too big," Kumbaya approach that I'm sure most clergy preached from the pulpit this weekend.

I pray that we all know that already.

No, my friends and fellow religious zealots, this one is for us.

The Pharisees get a terrible reputation in the Gospels. Jesus is constantly talking smack about them and--duh--rightfully so. But we need to remember to not become modern day Pharisees.

Gasp!

I would NEVER!

Not so quick, chicken.

The Pharisees were Jews who knew their stuff and studied their faith diligently.

Sound familiar? Is the Summa Theologica within view? How about the Catechism? How about Biblical commentary? Don't lie...

The Pharisees took their beliefs very seriously and were very vocal about it. (side note: It is believed that a Pharisee wrote the books of Maccabees. Pretty cool, huh? )

EWTN anyone?

What I'm trying to say here is this: It is great to take one's faith seriously, but to be altogether judgey just isn't kosher... Pun intended... We can all make contributions to society and to the Faith without shoving it down other peoples' throats. The Lord isn't asking us to wear a sandwich board and walk down the streets, warning people about the end of time (I never saw that walking down University Blvd in Steubenville or anything... Lies...). However, He is asking us to preach in our actions. Effective evangelization consists of the fewest words possible in my experience. To quote that corny church song (... and John's Gospel), "They will know we are Christians by our love." To love every person genuinely--whether he or she is your best friend or a stranger on the street--is to be a Christian. I know I am constantly guilty of wondering about the hear-after whereabouts of Obama shirt-wearing individuals, and that's just plain NOT what Jesus wants us to do. He tells us CONSTANTLY to NOT JUDGE (Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37, 1 Cor. 4:4, James 4:11).

Let's not be modern-day Pharisees, K? We can certainly pray for those who do not make the same decisions as us, but love them anyway. You never know when your love, (and not condemnation) will bring them to a beautiful reunion with the King of Kings.

PS-Check out my primary blog: Expensive Wine and Cheap Cheese :)