This blog follows the daily bible readings of the Catholic Church

Reading 1, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10, 16-18

6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we urge you, brothers, to keep away from any of the brothers who lives an undisciplined life, not in accordance with the tradition you received from us. 7 You know how you should take us as your model: we were not undisciplined when we were with you, 8 nor did we ever accept food from anyone without paying for it; no, we worked with unsparing energy, night and day, so as not to be a burden on any of you. 9 This was not because we had no right to be, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to imitate. 10 We urged you when we were with you not to let anyone eat who refused to work. 16 May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all. 17 This greeting is in my own hand-PAUL. It is the mark of genuineness in every letter; this is my own writing.

18 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all

Paul the tentmaker

A disciple of Paul used his name and a number of known facts about him to write this letter. We may think that is cheating but it was a sincere and well-known way of continuing the influence of a great teacher or leader. Almost all serious biblical scholars are agreed that this writing is not by Paul himself. His example of working for wages while preaching the gospel is used here in a more general way as an example to all disciples: Paul was disciplined, even when he might have accepted privilege. Churches should beware of people who use their religious enthusiasm in order to freeload. This is a warning which ought to apply to various preachers round the world who are taking top coin to do their job.

Gospel, Matthew 23:27-32

27 ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of corruption.28 In just the same way, from the outside you look upright, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build the sepulchres of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the upright, 30 saying, “We would never have joined in shedding the blood of the prophets, had we lived in our ancestors’ day.”

31 So! Your own evidence tells against you! You are the children of those who murdered the prophets! 32 Very well then, finish off the work that your ancestors began.

whitewashed graves

As I noted in my last blog but one, it’s difficult to guess how much in this passage is from Jesus, and how much from the gospel writers own resentment of Pharisees, who were persecuting disciples of Jesus at the time the gospel was written. There’s no doubt that the word about whitewashed tombs (whited sepulchres in the KJ translation) is so vivid it’s passed into the English language. Some of those who opposed Jesus were like this, although certainly not all of them, and Jesus was usually careful to distinguish –he tells a certain lawyer that “he’s not far from the kingdom,” for example. Accepting that Jesus’ words are directed against hypocrisy rather than Pharisees as a class of people, we can celebrate their exposure of one of the permanent dangers of religious office: that it is outward show rather than inward conviction. In a world where secular celebrity is so easily gained, religious hypocrisy has an easier time than in the past, and all the means of communication –including blogs!- can be used to whitewash the graves. “Outwardly fair but inwardly dead” is all-too-applicable to religious leadership here and now. Protestant leaders in Northern Ireland are today criticising the catholic hierarchy and the British Government for concealing the involvement of a deceased priest in IRA atrocities. The criticism is deserved, but comes from some whose relationship with protestant paramilitaries might not bear sustained scrutiny.