Daily HOMILY for February 12, 2014: Wednesday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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In 2014, I am facilitating a 12-week interactive online course in contemplative prayer and action for priests with Saint Luke Institute.  Please visit SLIconnect.org to learn more:  https://www.sliconnect.org/product/living-god-program-contemplative-life-2/

5^th Wednesday in OT

St. Luke’s Institute

February 12, 2014

RELIEF FROM THE PEW +++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  It’s a funny thing to sit in the pew on Sundays when a whole list of sins and sinners is enumerated from the Gospels or the various Epistles

Ø  Our shoulders shrink a bit in hope that we are not mentioned, or at least that the blows fall not too hard

Ø  Possibly we feel relieved that smoking and drinking are not mentioned

Ø  Some of us may feel a sigh of relief

Ø  Ah, it is those “others” that Jesus is talking about

JUSTIFICATION FROM THE PEW ++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Or maybe we dwell, savoring it a bit, on those “others” that Jesus is talking about

Ø  That guy who has loads of money

Ø  I hope he heard the word “greed”

Ø  Or the woman who has seen three marriages

Ø  She’d better be listening

Ø  Or those fakes who think they are so good they’ll get their fill of this Gospel

Ø  And I hope those people who eat and drink too much know what the word “sensuality” means

Ø  They could learn a thing or two if they would just open up their ears

Ø  As for those who envy my own virtue and success, thank God they are condemned as well

PHARISEE…WHO ME? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  The old Pharisee were experts in the Law, when it cam to matters of right and wrong

Ø  Weighty concerns of judgment, indeed

Ø  They knew where people stood

Ø  But Jesus seemed to have more difficulty with the Pharisees than with any other group

Ø  They did not mind hearing about sin, as long as it didn’t apply to them

Ø  They were righteous, but self-righteously so

Ø  A gifted and forceful woman once told me of a horrifying revelation

Ø  She had realized at prayer that she was a Pharisee, she who judged others, she who did not trust God

YES YOU! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  What a lovely moment

Ø  If you think you are a Pharisee, you most surely are not

Ø  If you think you are not, watch out!

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