"At her brother's refusal Scholastica folded her hands on the table and rested her head upon them in earnest prayer. When she looked up again, there was a sudden burst of lightning and thunder accompanied by such a downpour that Benedict and his companions were unable to set foot outside the door. By shedding a flood of tears while she prayed, this holy nun had darkened the cloudless sky with a heavy rain. The storm began as soon as her prayer was over. In fact, the two coincided so closely that the thunder was already resounding as she raised her head from the table. The very instant she ended her prayer the rain poured down. When we read passages like this, it’s easy to imagine that they were deliberately fooling people. It’s as if they were following Jewish traditions just for show, knowing all the while that they really didn’t care. But was that actually the case?
Had the Pharisees lived in our own time, we would probably be rather impressed by them. They were very serious in their effort to follow God’s laws to the letter—and Jesus wasn’t against that. In fact, as St. Paul writes, “the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous” (Romans 7:12). The problem was that for many of the Pharisees, ritual had become disconnected from relationship—and they didn’t realize this was happening!
It shouldn’t shock us to think that we can be like the Pharisees. We also love God and truly desire to follow him. But just like them, we can be blinded at times by any number of things—pride or fear or the turmoil of life. What we don’t want, however, is to become blind to our blindness! We constantly need to ask the Spirit to help us examine our lives so that we can identify our weak spots. We constantly need to be turning to the One who can make us whole, so that we do indeed practice what we preach.
Have you looked in the mirror lately? Not a real mirror, but the mirror of your heart. Are there parts of your life where Jesus isn’t shining very brightly? We all have things in our lives that block us from the Lord, whether they be past sins, judgmental attitudes, or sinful patterns of behavior. Don’t be discouraged! God doesn’t want to condemn you, only to fill you with his love. That’s why he has given us the Sacrament of Reconciliation—so that we can be reunited with him and strengthened to keep fighting the good fight. Remember, God wants to give you all the grace you need to become just as holy as you want to be!
“Lord, let me see myself as you see me. Show me what I need to change, but also remind me of your infinite love for me, so that I can reach out and touch others with that same love.”
Genesis 1:20–2:4; Psalm 8:4-9
