Self-examination

In a “Peanuts” cartoon strip, little Lucy, who is known to be ever-ready with unsolicited advice, is playing right-field in a baseball game. Charlie Brown is pitching. “Let‟s win one for a change Charlie Brown,” Lucy cries out. Charlie Brown then throws his first pitch and the batter hits the ball to right field. However, Lucy makes no attempt to catch it. She just stands there and does nothing. Charlie Brown yells out at her, “If you‟re so interested in winning, why didn‟t you try to catch that ball?” To which a defiant Lucy replies, “My role is strictly advisory!”
The Scribes and the Pharisees, whom Jesus castigates in this weekend‟s Gospel, seem to be in that kind of “Lucy” mode. They are very ready to act in an advisory capacity. They are very ready to preach and teach the law of God about right-living, as they understand it. And yet, Jesus warns his disciples: “You must do what they tell you and listen to what they say, but do not be guided by what they do, since they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people‟s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them!” Recall for a moment the “Parable of the Last Judgment” in which Jesus spells out in the clearest terms our number one priority in life as a Christian people. In the parable, the King says to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the Kingdom prepared for you. For I was hungry and you gave me food! I was thirsty and you gave me to drink! I was a stranger and you made me welcome! I was naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to me!” Notice, Jesus did not say, “I was hungry and you felt sorry for me. I was naked and you wished with all your heart that I had a full wardrobe. I was sick and you felt badly about my condition. I was imprisoned and you could almost feel the manacles cutting into my wrists.” It didn‟t add up that way for Jesus! What truly mattered was that the hungry were actually fed, the naked were actually clothed, the sick and the imprisoned were actually ministered to! Jesus was saying, in effect, "Don't bother telling me how you feel about these people. Tell me what you are actually doing for them! Love is something you do! Show me that you practice what you preach!" The authorities of Jesus‟ time, like many of us, had good minds, and they knew what was the just and ethical thing to do. And they, like many of us, found it difficult to live their principles. Give us the grace, Oh God, to keep trying! The lesson on self-examination and humility in this weekend‟s Gospel also applies to those we shall elect to public office . The first role of elected officials is to know their place. They are servants of the people, not masters. They are called to guard human rights, not to grant them. They are elected to be advocates for the helpless, not their oppressors. Government got “too involved” in abortion when it pretended to have the right to deprive the unborn of person-hood. Candidates who support the right to abortion actually support a concept of government that sets itself above intrinsic human rights. More is at stake here than just the legality of a medical procedure. What is at stake is whether government serves us or destroys us!