Posted by The WORD in other words (2009) by Sr. Vilma Puzon, SSpS (- Holy Spirit Mission Center, Tagaytay City
Wednesday 28th Week in Ordinary Time
There is a story about a man who applied for a job with a logging crew. Wanting to test his skills, the foreman said, “Let me see you fell a tree.” The man quickly and skillfully cut down a large tree. Impressed, the foreman replied, “You can start on Monday.”
After four days of work, however, the foreman called him aside on Thursday afternoon and said, “Today will be your last day. Our performance chart shows that you were first on Monday, but today you are in last place.”
“But I’m a hard worker,” the man protested. “I arrive first, leave last, and even work through my coffee breaks!”
The foreman, sensing his sincerity, paused for a moment and then asked, “Have you been sharpening your axe?”
“No, sir,” the man replied. “I’ve been working too hard to take time for that!”
Like the man in the story, the Pharisees in today’s Gospel miss what is truly essential. They are meticulous in paying tithes, even on tiny herbs such as mint and rue (Luke 11:42). Their religious practice is mathematically precise, yet spiritually deficient. They focus on minor details of the Law while neglecting its heart: justice, mercy, and the love of God.
Jesus does not condemn their observance of religious duties. Rather, He reproaches them for failing to keep proper priorities: “These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others” (Luke 11:42). Their external religiosity masks an interior emptiness. As the prophet Micah had already proclaimed, God desires that His people “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
Jesus goes on to compare them to unmarked graves (Luke 11:44). According to the Law of Moses, anyone who touched a grave, knowingly or unknowingly, became ceremonially unclean (Numbers 19:16). By this striking image, Jesus warns that the hypocrisy of the Pharisees can spiritually contaminate others. Instead of leading people to God, they become obstacles to authentic faith.
Likewise, the lawyers and scribes burden the people with countless rules and regulations while failing to live by them themselves (Luke 11:46). They are experts in the Law, yet they often use their knowledge not to serve others but to evade its deeper demands. Jesus echoes the warning He gives elsewhere: “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them” (Matthew 23:4).
Before we judge the Pharisees too quickly, we should ask ourselves: Is there not a little Pharisee in each of us? How often do we become preoccupied with appearances, routines, or minor observances while neglecting conversion of heart? How often do we devote our energy to doing many things for God but spend little time being with Him?
Today, Jesus invites us to sharpen not our axes but our hearts. He calls us to examine our priorities, our motivations, and our relationships with God and with others. Like Mary of Bethany, who chose “the better part” by sitting at the Lord’s feet (Luke 10:42), may we never become so busy with religious activity that we neglect intimacy with Christ.
Let us pray that all who encounter us today may experience something of God’s justice, mercy, and love. May our lives reveal not merely external piety but the transforming presence of Christ, who came that we might have life in abundance (John 10:10).
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