Posted on 10/12/2026 11:21:59 PM PDT by fidelis
After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. Luke 11:37–38
Did Jesus break the Law of Moses by failing to observe the prescribed ritual handwashing before sitting down to eat? He did not. This ceremonial washing was not a precept of the Mosaic Law but rather a tradition developed by the elders. It was intended to signify ritual purity before meals. But Jesus rejected it because it had become a superficial religiosity that separated outward actions from inward holiness.
The Pharisee’s amazement reveals how distorted his and others’ sense of holiness had become at that time. Their faith had become focused on external practices while blind to interior decay. In dismissing the handwashing, Jesus may have been exposing the foolishness of those who cling to appearance while neglecting the heart.
As the passage continues, the Pharisee either expressed his amazement outwardly or Jesus perceived his heart and responded with a passionate rebuke, making for an uncomfortable moment: “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools!”
The word translated as “fools” means “without reason,” “without understanding,” or “lacking in moral and spiritual discernment.” It is not used here as an insult but as a prophetic indictment revealing the irrationality of the Pharisees’ priorities in giving excessive significance to an external act while neglecting the interior life.
Though we no longer observe this particular ritual handwashing—likely because of Jesus’ correction—His teaching remains relevant. Many outward religious actions are part of our Catholic devotional life: making the Sign of the Cross, genuflecting, using holy water, kissing a blessed object, and more. Each of these is good and important. However, in light of Jesus’ words, we must continually examine whether our external expressions of faith are joined to sincere interior devotion.
For example, the Sign of the Cross is meaningful only if it is made prayerfully, acknowledging the Holy Trinity. Genuflecting before the tabernacle is a true act of reverence, but it loses its significance if done out of habit or distraction and without an interior acknowledgment of Christ’s Real Presence.
The same principle applies to our interactions with others. Imagine a situation in which you’ve offended a family member and, to avoid conflict, you quickly say, “Oops, I’m sorry.” While the words may be correct, the act is hollow unless it flows from true humility—recognizing the wrong committed, feeling sorrow for it, and sincerely asking for forgiveness.
Reflect today on the unity between your outward expressions of faith and the inner disposition of your heart. Ask yourself whether your devotional practices, gestures of reverence, and even your interactions with others arise from a heart purified by grace and animated by love. Let this Gospel passage remind you that God sees not only the “outside of the cup” but especially its interior. Strive to ensure that what God sees within you is pleasing to Him—marked by integrity, sincerity, and holiness of life. When the heart is cleansed by truth and charity, every outward act becomes a true offering of worship.
Most charitable Lord, every action You performed flowed from the depths of Your divine love. Never was there an act of devotion that lacked sincerity or truth. Form my heart after Your own Sacred Heart. Strengthen within me a life of authentic devotion and deep love for others. May all that I do outwardly be a true expression of my inner communion with You, radiating Your love through my words and deeds. Jesus, I trust in You.
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The Month of October is Dedicated to the Holy Rosary
“Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of October, 2026:
For mental health ministry
Let us pray that the mental health ministry be established throughout the Church, helping to overcome the stigma and discrimination of persons with mental illnesses.
Today’s First Reading
From: Galatians 5:1-6
Christian Liberty
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[1] For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
[2] Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. [3] I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is bound to keep the whole law. [4] You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. [5] For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. [6] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love.
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Commentary:
1-3. The Law of Moses, which was divinely revealed, was something good; it suited the circumstances of the time. Christ came to bring this Law to perfection (cf. notes on Mt 5:17-19 and Gal 5:14-15). All the elaborate legal and ritual prescriptions in the Mosaic Law were laid down by God for a specific stage in Salvation History, that is, the stage which ended with the coming of Christ. Christians are under no obligation to follow the letter of that Law (cf. St Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae", I-II, q. 108, a.3 ad 3).
Although in this letter to the Galatians the Apostle is emphasizing, as we have seen, freedom from the Law of Moses, obviously this liberation cannot be entirely disconnected from freedom in general. If someone submits to circumcision after being baptized, it amounts to subjecting oneself to a series of practices which have now no value and to depriving oneself of the fruits of Christ's Redemption. In other words, subjection to the Law brings with it a loss of freedom in general. Paul is using the full might of his apostolic authority when he says, "If you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you." Christ's Redemption alone is effective; it has no need of the rites of the Old Testament.
4-5. There is now not just a clear distinction but actual opposition between following Christ and the observance of the Law, with the result that if anyone tries to live by the Law only he is cutting himself off from Christ. Baptism is the sacrament whereby we are inserted into Jesus Christ, becoming members of his Body and branches of the vine (cf. Jn 15:5). If we cut ourselves off from Christ, the true vine and source of life, we cannot bear fruit. Nor can we do so by going back and submitting to the Old Law, for that Law is now out of date and no longer operates.
On the other hand, if we remain in the grace which Christ has won for us, we shall produce the "hope of righteousness", which is not simply what we have now--the life of grace--but its perfect fulfillment in eternal life: this is really what we "wait" for, what we yearn for.
6. In the stage of Salvation History which begins with Christ, the fact that a person is Jewish or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, counts for nothing as far as salvation is concerned. What does matter is truly believing that only Christ Jesus can save us: true faith, genuine faith, moves us to love Christ and, as a consequence of this, to love everyone without exception. The faith to which St Paul is referring can be described, as the Apostle St James implies (Jas 2:17), as "living faith", that is, faith which is translated into a profound conviction which motivates us to love: this is "faith working through love".
St Paul is obviously speaking about the supernatural virtue of faith in its proper sense, that is, "living faith". In the Christian tradition, stemming from St James, "dead faith" is a caricature of faith which is incapable of expressing itself in words.
The Magisterium of the Church teaches that "faith, unless it is joined to hope and charity, neither makes us one with Christ nor loving members of his Body. That is why it is rightly said that 'faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead' (Jas 2:17) and idle, and that 'in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love' (Gal 5:6; 6:15)" (Council of Trent, "De Iustificatione", chap. 7).
Therefore, a person who has faith but does not live in the grace of God is really a kind of dead person: charity is as it were the soul of all virtues, it is what gives them life: "it must be remembered that if someone had all the gifts of the Holy Spirit with the exception of the first gift, charity, he could not be supernaturally alive [...]. He would be like a dead body: however much he deck himself out in gold and precious stones, he continues to be a dead body" (St Thomas, "On the Two Commandments...", intro. 3).
Our Lord said that his disciples would be recognized by their charity (cf. Jn 13:35), because faith begets hope, and hope leads on to love. "When one asks if someone is good," St Augustine says, "one does not check to see what he believes or what he hopes for, but what it is he loves. For someone who loves rightly certainly also believes and hopes rightly; but he who does not love believes in vain, even if what he believes in is true [...]. Therefore, this is the faith in Christ, which the Apostle extols--'faith which works through love" ("Enchiridion", chap. 117).
From: Luke 11:37-41
The Hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees
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[37] While He (Jesus) was speaking, a Pharisee asked Him to dine with Him; so He went in and sat at table. [38] The Pharisee was astonished to see that He did not first wash before dinner. [39] And the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of extortion and wickedness. [40] You fools! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? [41] But give for alms those things which are within; and behold everything is clean for you."
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Commentary:
39-52. In this passage (one of the most severe in the Gospel) Jesus determinedly unmasks the vice which was largely responsible for official Judaism's rejection of His teaching--hypocrisy cloaked in legalism. There are many people, who under the guise of doing good, keeping the mere letter of the law, fail to keep its spirit; they close themselves to the love of God and neighbor; they harden their hearts and, though apparently very upright, turn others away from fervent pursuit of God--making virtue distasteful. Jesus' criticism is vehement because they are worse than open enemies: against open enemies one can defend oneself, but these enemies are almost impossible to deal with. The scribes and Pharisees were blocking the way of those who wanted to follow Jesus: they were the most formidable obstacle to the Gospel. Our Lord's invective against the scribes and Pharisees is reported even more fully in chapter 23 of St. Matthew. See the note on Matthew 23:1-39.
[The note on Matthew 23:1-39 states: 1-39. Throughout this chapter Jesus severely criticizes the scribes and Pharisees and demonstrates the sorrow and compassion He feels towards the ordinary mass of the people, who have been ill-used, "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). His address may be divided into three parts: in the first (verses 1-12) He identifies their principal vices and corrupt practices; in the second (verses 13-36) He confronts them and speaks His famous "woes", which in effect are the reverse of the Beatitudes He preached in Chapter 5: no one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven--no one can escape condemnation to the flames--unless he changes his attitude and behavior; in the third part (verses 37-39) He weeps over Jerusalem, so grieved is He by the evils into which the blind pride and hardheartedness of the scribes and Pharisees have misled the people.]
40-41. It is not easy to work out what these verses mean. Probably our Lord is using the idea of cleaning the inside and outside of dishes to teach that a person's heart is much more important than what appears on the surface--whereas the Pharisees got it the wrong way round, as so many people tend to do. Jesus is warning us not to be so concerned about "the outside" but rather give importance to "the inside". Applying this to the case of alms: we have to be generous with those things we are inclined to hoard; in other words, it is not enough just to give a little money (that could be a purely formal, external gesture); love is what we have to give others--love and understanding, refinement, respect for their freedom, deep concern for their spiritual and material welfare; this is something we cannot do unless our interior dispositions are right.
In an address to young people, St. Pope John Paul II explains what almsgiving really means: "The Greek word for alms, "eleemosyne", comes from "eleos", meaning compassion and mercy. Various circumstances have combined to change this meaning so that almsgiving is often regarded as a cold act, with no love in it. But almsgiving in the proper sense means realizing the needs of others and letting them share in one's own goods. Who would say that there will not always be others who need help, especially spiritual help, support, consolation, fraternity, love? The world is always very poor, as far as love is concerned" (28 March 1979).
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