You yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them

17 OCTOBER (Lk 11,42-46)

In the sacred texts of the Old Testament the Pharisees are never mentioned. The scribes are already there in Egypt. They are the interlocutors between the people and the pharaoh. These will accompany all the history of the people of the Lord. Theirs is an essential ministry for the correct knowledge of revelation. They are interpreters of sacred science, of the Word of the Lord.

That very day Pharaoh gave the taskmasters and foremen of the people this order: “You shall no longer supply the people with straw for their brick making as you have previously done. Let them go and gather straw themselves! Yet you shall levy upon them the same quota of bricks as they have previously made. Do not reduce it. They are lazy; that is why they are crying, ‘Let us go to offer sacrifice to our God.’ Increase the work for the men, so that they keep their mind on it and pay no attention to lying words.” So the taskmasters and foremen of the people went out and told them, “Thus says Pharaoh: I will not provide you with straw. Go and gather the straw yourselves, wherever you can find it. Yet there must not be the slightest reduction in your work.” The people, then, scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw, while the taskmasters kept driving them on, saying, “Finish your work, the same daily amount as when your straw was supplied.” The foremen of the Israelites, whom the taskmasters of Pharaoh had placed over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why have you not completed your prescribed amount of bricks yesterday and today, as before?” Then the Israelite foremen came and made this appeal to Pharaoh: “Why do you treat your servants in this manner? No straw is supplied to your servants, and still we are told to make bricks. Look how your servants are beaten! It is you who are at fault.” Pharaoh answered, “It is just because you are lazy that you keep saying, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to the Lord.’ Off to work, then! Straw shall not be provided for you, but you must still deliver your quota of bricks.” The Israelite foremen knew they were in a sorry plight, having been told not to reduce the daily amount of bricks. When, therefore, they left Pharaoh and came upon Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them, they said to them, “The Lord look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his servants and have put a sword in their hands to slay us.” (Ex 5, 6-21).

God gives his revelation. The scribe interprets it. He explains it. He makes it accessible to man. This is a ministry of life, if he who exercises it remains faithful to his mandate. On the contrary, if he proves faithless, from a minister of life it is transformed instantly into a minister of death. Mediation is essential in the gift of the Word. A word given without mediation is left to the interpretation of the individual.

Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.

At the time of Jesus the true religion was disfigured as a result of the scribes, unfaithful to their mandate. These replaced the Word of God with their traditions, arbitrary, false and untrue interpretations. They had become real jugglers of God’s Word. They had removed from it the divine seed, the only one capable of true salvation, and had inserted in its place a seed of death. In so doing they had made the Word of the Lordunrecognizable. Jesus reveals openly, publicly their infidelity. They are not servants of the Word. They made themselves its masters. Their infidelity, partiality and will are the cause of all spiritual and moral decay of God’s people. It always happens like this. When the minister of the Word, from a servant becomes its master, the people perish, they will always perish for lack of true knowledge of the will of their God and Lord. Today, it is also like this. The Lord’s people languish spiritually and morally because they are not fed on the truth of their God.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Lord, Angels and Saints give us the true knowledge of God.