REFLECTION:

This past weekend, I attended two different events, and at both events, I found myself asking the same question: “Why? What is the meaning behind that?”

On Friday night, I attended the Knights of Columbus Awards Ceremony. As I listened to the speeches and the different awards being announced, I heard that our Knights of Columbus Council here at Sacred Heart Church received the Star Council Award.

So naturally, I turned to the people at my table and asked, “What's the connection between a star and the Knights of Columbus?”

Nobody had an answer!

Then our Grand Knight received the Phoenix Award for helping revive a struggling council and bringing it to where it is today. Again, I asked, “What's the connection between a phoenix and the Knights?”

At least that one I could figure out! The phoenix is a mythical bird that rises from its ashes. It symbolizes renewal and new beginnings.

Then on Sunday, I was at Chaminade University for their White Sunday celebration. I noticed people wearing white with green ribbons pinned to their clothing. So again, I started asking people, “What's the meaning behind the green ribbon?” And a few people told me, “I don't know, they just gave it to us when we arrived!”

I thought to myself, “Isn't it interesting how sometimes we do things, wear things, or follow traditions without knowing why we're doing them?”

And that brings us to today's readings.

In the Gospel, Jesus is invited to dine at the home of a Pharisee. The Pharisee is surprised because Jesus does not perform the customary ritual washing before eating.

Now, Jesus is not saying that washing is bad. I hope we all wash our hands before eating! But Jesus challenges the Pharisee because he is so focused on the external practice that he has forgotten its deeper meaning.

Jesus tells him that while the outside of the cup may be clean, the inside can still be filled with evil. And just a little FYI, I actually laughed when I read that part about the cup! Because on Sunday, I was organizing my coffee and tea area in the rectory, and I found three different but very nice coffee mugs.

Now, I already had eight mugs, and suddenly I had three more that didn't match the others. Well, that's when my OCD tendencies kicked in! I spent time rearranging all eleven mugs, trying to figure out how to position the eight matching mugs and the three different ones so that everything looked balanced on both sides. Because I knew that if I walked by and saw them looking uneven, it would bother me!

And then I read today's Gospel about Jesus talking about the outside of the cup! I thought, “Lord, are you talking to me today?” But that's exactly the point Jesus is making.

Sometimes we become so concerned about how things look on the outside that we forget to pay attention to what's happening on the inside.

And St. Paul reminds us in the first reading that what matters is “faith working through love.”

You see, our Catholic faith is filled with beautiful traditions, rituals, symbols, and practices. We make the Sign of the Cross, genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament, kneel during Mass, light candles, and pray the Rosary.

But here's the question: Do we know why we do these things? And more importantly, are these practices transforming our hearts?

Because we can genuflect perfectly before the Blessed Sacrament but fail to show respect to the person sitting next to us. We can make the Sign of the Cross every day but refuse to forgive someone who has hurt us. We can come to Mass every Sunday but spend the rest of the week treating people poorly.

Jesus is reminding us that our religious practices should never become empty routines. They are meant to draw us closer to God and help us become more loving toward one another.

So perhaps today, we can ask ourselves two questions. First, why do I do what I do as a Catholic? And second, is what I do helping me become more like Christ?



Because at the end of the day, God is not simply interested in how religious we look on the outside. He wants to know whether the faith we profess on the outside is producing love on the inside.