One of the lessons that my parents taught me growing up was “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” In essence, don’t be too quick to judge based on appearances, because it’s what’s on the inside that counts. I remember one particular time that I learned this lesson first hand: during my Novitiate, we were staying in the guesthouse of a Convent for an inter-community Novitiate program. We ate our meals with the sisters, and in the dining hall, I caught glimpse of a sister who always seemed to have a perpetual scowl on her face. She looked like she was very angry, and wasn’t a person to be crossed. However, when I was introduced to her at one point, I quickly realized that she was one of the kindest and most gentle people I had ever met. Talk about a dose of humility!
This is precisely the point that Jesus is trying to make in today’s Gospel. For context, the Pharisees were obsessed with maintaining strict observance of the Mosaic law, which prescribed a series of external rituals that had to be followed throughout the course of the day, in order to maintain ritual purity. For the Pharisees, the entire judgment of whether or not a person was truly in union with God was based solely on their conformity to these ritual actions. As Jesus says, however, one can conform to ritual actions, and still have their heart be far from God. This is because even when we “do” everything right, our hearts can still be full of evil intentions.
Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in today’s Gospel are a reminder to each of us that we need to continually seek to root out the sinful attitudes that often dwell in our hearts: jealousy, anger, greed, resentment, pride, lust… the list goes on and on! In their place, we need to make room for the virtues Christ calls us all to live by: humility, kindness, patience, diligence, charity, temperance, and chastity. God is the one who gives us the grace to do just that: and we can encounter that grace in a powerful way each time we approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation. May God give each of us the grace to purify the inner attitudes of our hearts, and strive to conform the entirety of our lives to his will.
I want to thank everyone who applied for the temporary receptionist position for our Family of Parishes, to cover Darlene’s medical leave. I also want to thank Caitlyn Bondy, who has been helping us with Mass reservations for Assumption and St. Alphonsus for the past two months. Caitlyn has a position with the Windsor-Essex Catholic School Board, so we are grateful that she has given of her time during the summer to help us out. We wish her all the best as she returns to the classroom! We look forward to introducing you to Rosetta Dipronio, who will be our temporary receptionist starting on September 1. Look for more information about Rosetta on our website and facebook pages in the coming days, and if you happen to call the office, be sure to welcome her to our Family of Parishes!
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Steven Huber, CSB