Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

COVID-19 has drastically changed the way people around the world live and interact with one another. What was once normal is no more. Social gatherings carry the danger of disease. Rather than gathering in person, many now turn to the computer and its ability to transport people through the wonders of virtual reality. In fact, various forms of virtual reality like online learning and other essential events (like sports!) have become the norm for the sake of safety.

And yet, even though we live with restrictions, there is no substitute for the real deal. We are hardwired to humanly connect with the person or scene in front of us, involving all our five senses. This is more than an electronic device can provide. We could call it our need for face-to-face communication based on inner honesty. This may explain why we can tend to label anything that lacks this inner honesty as phony.

The Gospel today gives us a close-up look at the reaction of Jesus to the phony and virtual world of the Pharisees. His anger with them was heated and clear because they presented themselves in a virtual reality, appearing to be perfect on the outside but were actually rotten on the inside. They became lost in their own virtual reality convincing themselves that they were the righteous ones according to their own biased interpretation of the law. They not only lived in their own world, but they inflicted their interpretation of the law upon those around them.

Today, perhaps more than ever before, due to advanced communications, we need the stabilizing forces of honesty and integrity. More than ever we need to be able to speak face to face with our neighbor, but even more importantly, we need to do so with an honest and caring heart.

Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB