The Pharisees were avaricious men (Lk 16:14). The word avaricious means "very greedy." They loved money and power. They did not love people, however. A leading Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner on a Sabbath, and deliberately placed a man suffering from dropsy "directly in front of" Jesus at the table. Dropsy is a painful, bloated condition in which water is retained in the person's arms and legs. This seating arrangement was a blatant trap set by the Pharisees to bait Jesus into healing on the Sabbath. After Jesus healed the man, He sent the man home (Lk 14:4), which indicates that the suffering man was not invited to partake of the meal, but was merely a pawn used by the Pharisees to entrap the Lord. Jesus loved the man and healed him; the Pharisees did not care about this man, but only about money and power. On another occasion, the Pharisees led a woman caught in adultery to Jesus (Jn 8:3ff). The Pharisees didn't care if this woman were to be killed, as long as she could be used to trap Jesus and preserve their power. Jesus wanted them to love these suffering people, and not love money. The Pharisees were enslaved to greed and power. Jesus came to set free those who were enslaved (see Lk 4:18). He loved the Pharisees and offered them an opportunity to be truly free from their slavery to greed (see Gal 5:1). So He told them to give what they had as alms, and all would be wiped clean for them (Lk 11:41). They would have known the value of almsgiving from the archangel Raphael's admonition to Tobit (see Tb 12:8-10), but they needed to take concrete action. For the Pharisees to give alms meant that they could grow more detached from money and begin caring about the poor to whom they were giving the alms. What about you? Are you tempted to love your money more than you love the poor? Follow Jesus' advice. Give alms and be wiped clean (Lk 11:41).
PRAYER: Jesus, set me free my attachments so I will love You and love the poor and lowly. PROMISE: "It was for liberty that Christ freed us. So stand firm, and do not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time!" –Gal 5:1 PRAISE: St. Teresa of Jesus, from Avila, Spain, prayed daily for the coming of the Holy Spirit in her life.
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College