Tuesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Last week, I was on the University of Dayton’s (UD) campus on my way to help first-year students move into the residence halls when a mother of one of the students stopped me in the parking lot and asked where the S1 parking lot was. I assumed it was near other similarly named lots, so I told her I thought it was by S2 and S3. I discovered much later that S1 was actually on the other side of campus. What a blind guide I was! Had I actually looked at a map, I would have given her different and accurate directions.
Likewise, the Pharisees in today’s Gospel neglect to see the bigger picture. They do things that are prescribed by the law. To many of the people of Jesus’ time, they look pious and faithful. However, Jesus points out what they are missing: love of God and love of neighbor. Both of these come from within and flow outward, not the other way around.
Today’s Gospel invites us to look at our lives to see when we have been blind to God’s movement within us. We can examine our faith to see whether it is deeply rooted in us or merely performative with shallow roots. Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, founder of the Marianists*, taught that “the essential is interior.”** We are to imitate Jesus’ inner attitudes so that we can love as He loves. Let us be so transformed by the love of Christ that it emanates from us.
—Sr. Emily Sandoval, FMI
*For more information about the Marianists: https://marianist.org/, https://www.marianist.com/, https://www.fmi-adele.org/en/, https://www.marianistsisters.com/, https://www.clm-mlc.org/, https://www.mlcna.org/, https://marianist.org/elementor-761/alliance-mariale/
**https://www.nacms.org/epubs/principles-direction-blessed-william-joseph-chaminade