RITUALISM VS SPIRITUAL CLEANSING
Jesus frowns at mere ritualism.
The Jews believed in so many ritual washings. These washings of hands and other
parts of the body meant a lot to them. Anyone who failed to do so was ritually
considered unclean.
Jesus was invited by a Pharisee
to dine with him. To the astonishment of the Pharisee, Jesus did not wash His
hands before the dinner. He even went further to condemn the deceptiveness of
the Pharisees saying: Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of
the dish, but inside you are full of extortion and wickedness. You fools! Did
not he who made outside make the inside also?
Jesus is interested in what we
have on the inside. Everyone sees what is on the surface. We make a lot of
effort trying to maintain the superficialities. We paint the walls of our
houses to appeal to beholders. But the real clean person is known based on how
those places eye do not see are kept. Is the bedroom and rest room as clean as
the sitting room and the outside of the building?
Jesus enters into the innermost
areas of our lives. The Pharisee wanted to keep Him at the dinning room but
Jesus wanted to go beyond mere dining into deep communion. Jesus wants to
ensure that he doesn't waste his time on things that please the eye.
Jesus could be said to be the
philosopher who goes beyond appearances to grasp the reality. He wants to
encounter the real you. He wants to meet that you that no one knows. He wants
you to stop telling yourself lies and begin to do the spiritual cleansing
necessary for your holistic wellbeing. Physical or bodily cleansing keeps you
clean only physically. It may be useful for your physical health. But there is
more to wholeness than looking good and appearing healthy. You may be healthy
but spiritually and emotionally unsound.
Jesus is encouraging us to say no
to deceptive packaging to appease men. Men may see you washing, see you as a
baptized Christian, see you as a Church goer, see you as one who associates
with the Holy. But the question remains: Are you really holy? Are you real? Is
there any spirituality in the packaging you showcase to the outside world? Is
your advertisement more than what you're offering? Is that smile real? Is that
prayers real? Is that gift real? Is that offering real?
Jesus visits you today. Do not
remain the same. Do not be like the Pharisee who only wanted Jesus to visit and
leave without touching the core of his being. Expose those filthy areas you're
covering to Jesus.
Be clean on the inside. Let the
good things you do be inspired by sincerity, truthfulness and divine love.
Do not use washing of hand to
cover wickedness, bloodshed, injustice and immorality like Pilate.
Let us pray
I welcome you Jesus into the
innermost part of my being. Take possession and have your own way my Lord. May
I enjoy dinning with you at the table of the Eucharist. May your body and blood
wash me from sin and cleans from me the desire to cover my sins up. Make me
clean inside out Oh Jesus.
May the word of God and the
Sacraments do the cleansing needed for spiritual and holistic wellbeing,
through Christ our Lord. Amen
God bless your Tuesday
Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh
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