Sermon about the pharisaic spirit

Introduction

In today’s Gospel, Our Lord Jesus announces the coming of His Spirit, the Holy Ghost, who is a “Spirit of truth”. In the Epistle, St Peter has a very important recommendation: “Above all things have a constant mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covers a multitude of sins” (1Pet 4;7). These two elements, truth and charity, summarize well the spirit of the true followers of Christ. Contrary to that spirit, there is the pharisaic spirit, that is to say the spirit of the pharisees, the worst enemies of Christ during his life.

I will speak today about this dangerous pharisaic spirit which is still active and destructive in our days.

The Pharisees

The Pharisees were a sect among the Jews, which started around the year 180 before Christ. Their name “Pharisee” means “separation” or “division”. Indeed, the members of this sect intended to obey Moses’ Law more exactly than anybody else, so they considered themselves as an upper class of Jews, separated from the common folk.

In order to live according to Moses’ Law more perfectly, the pharisees focused especially on accomplishing exactly and often the exterior prescriptions of the law: for example, the ritual purifications symbols of purity. They used to wash their hands each and every time before eating, when coming back from the streets and markets; they used to put often into water all what they could use at home, even their furniture under the reason to purify them. Also, they used to stay away from the people considered as sinners: no touching them, no eating or drinking with them, no praying with them. And that is why the Gospel, the Pharisees were scandalized about Jesus eating in the house of St Matthew the Publican with his friends, about Jesus letting St Mary Magdalene the sinful woman touch his feet.

The Pharisees also claimed to study Moses’ Law more thoroughly than anybody else. To show that they were always contemplating God’s law, they used for example to wear on their forehead and wrist some small pieces of parchment on which were written quotes of the Bible. They were also wearing long fringes on their clothes to show that they were greater observers of the Law than the others.

The Pharisees were also fasting a lot, making long prayers, giving big alms, and paying exactly all the tithes. Remember the prayer of the Pharisee of the Parable in the Gospel: “I fast twice in a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.” (Lc 18;12).

Because of their apparent science and their exterior practices of good works, the common people had a great consideration for them. And that is why the Pharisees became very influential, to the extent that even the Jewish kings had difficult times if they were to do anything which the Pharisees did not like. For example, king Alexander Jannaeus fought a lot with them and before dying he told his wife that if she wanted to reign happily, she should be in good terms with them. She followed that advice in order to avoid problems, and the pharisees took over the control of the government.

The sect of the pharisees did not disappear with the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple in the year 70. They survived and the followers of today’s Judaism are basically pharisees. But more sadly their evil mentality has survived, not only among the followers of today’s Judaism but even in the catholic Church, even in our chapels.

What is this evil spirit of the Pharisees, which we call the pharisaic spirit?

The pharisaic spirit

Certainly at their foundation, the pharisees had a good intention: to follow Moses’ Law more perfectly in order to please God more. Certainly also, always some of them, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea at the time of Jesus, remained good people, sincerely devoted to God. But most of the pharisees developed a spirit of pride, arrogance, ostentation, hypocrisy, self-love and contempt of their neighbour, all together forming what we call today the pharisaic spirit, radically opposed to the Christian spirit. And that is why Our Lord Jesus had so much difficulty with them.

The pharisees pretended to study and to teach God’s law. But actually the main object of their studies were the traditions of their forefathers, and often they preached their own ideas under the cover of being “traditions” received from their ancestors. Our Lord Jesus reproached that attitude to them: “Leaving the Commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pots and of cups and many other things you do like to these… Well do you make void the commandment of God that you may keep your own tradition” (Mc 7;8).

The Pharisees overloaded the others with many useless, burdensome practices, making the yoke of the Law unbearable; practices which themselves they were not keeping. Our Lord Jesus said about the Pharisees: “They bind heavy and insupportable burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders: but with a finger of their own they will not move them” (Mt 23;4).

The Pharisees pretended to be pure by practicing many exterior ablutions, by selecting carefully their food and keeping physically away from sinners, but in their heart they were wicked, to the extent that they could condemn to the horrible death of the Cross somebody whom they knew to be an innocent. They pretended to respect carefully the Law, in its least details but actually they were despising the most essential Commandment of God which is charity towards God and our neighbour. We see in the Gospel how fierce could be the Pharisees against anybody who was not complying with their wishes and ideas! Our Lord Jesus denounced that attitude: “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel” (Mt 23;24).

The Pharisees were practising good works like alms and fasting, were devoted exteriorly to religion, to the care of the temple of Jerusalem. But actually, they were doing all this more for themselves than for God, for their own glory, to maintain their prestige and authority over the others. Our Lord Jesus told them: “Hypocrites, you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful but within are full of dead men’s bones and of all filthiness. So, you also outwardly indeed appear to men just: but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Mt 23;27).

And because the Pharisees were hypocrites, spitting their venom in a hidden way, killing spiritually people with their wrong teachings, their insidious words and detractions, St John the Baptist and Our Lord called them several times: “Serpents, generation of vipers.. brood of vipers…” (Mt 3;7 / Mt 23;33).

All of that together is what we call the pharisaic spirit, spirit marked by pride, hypocrisy and contempt of the neighbour.

The danger of pharisaic spirit in our chapels

That pharisaic spirit unfortunately is not restricted to the pharisees. Even we Catholics can be affected by it at various degrees and it can be very harmful to the persons themselves and to the communities in which they live.

Like the pharisees, the Catholics infected with pharisaic spirit pretend to know religion, morals, liturgy more than anybody else, including the priests, and they want everybody to follow their directives, their own ideas: whoever does not agree with them is a stupid, an ignorant, an idiot. Like the pharisees, they condemn harshly and exclude those who refuse to comply with what they want. Like the Pharisees, they are very strict on secondary laws but they omit practicing the most essential Commandments, especially of justice and charity. Like the pharisees, they devote themselves to good works, but it is more for their own prestige and glory than for the glory of God: they want to be seen, to be praised by the others. Like the pharisees, they denounce the sins committed by others, but they don’t even see how unjust and uncharitable they are themselves. Like the pharisees, they are hypocrites: in front of people they look pious and virtuous, but when among themselves it seems there is no limit to their rash judgments, detractions, evil intentions. As to their superiors, they look obedient and respectful in front of them, but they criticize them badly from behind and resisting them.

Christian spirit is the complete opposite of pharisaic spirit. It is a spirit of truth and charity. A spirit of truth means first of all humility, that is to say to consider ourselves as we are in truth before God, with our good qualities and also our own weaknesses: “Without me, you can do nothing” (Jn 15;5) said Jesus. The spirit of truth means also veracity: to show ourselves by our life and conversations as we are. In the book of the Ecclesiasticus, we read this interesting warning: “Be not a hypocrite in the sight of men and let not your lips be a stumblingblock to you. Watch over them, lest you fall and bring dishonour upon your soul, and God discover your secrets, and cast you down in the midst of the congregation. Because you came to the Lord wickedly and your heart is full of guile and deceit” (Eccli 1;37). The spirit of truth means also loyalty: to be faithful to one’s commitments, to one’s superiors.

Then Christian spirit is a spirit of Charity. Let us simply remember Our Lord Jesus’ words: “Learn of Me because I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11;29). Elsewhere: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another” (Jn 13;35), further He said: “These things I command you, that you love one another” (Jn 15;17) and as a conclusion of His priestly prayer to His Father at the end of the Last Supper: “And I have made known thy Name to them and will make it known: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (Jn 17;26).

Conclusion

The conclusion of this sermon is obvious: beware of the pharisaic spirit. As it happened to the pharisees of the Gospel, that spirit blinds people, sterilizes their spiritual development and apostolate, it causes scandal the others and brings division and destruction of communities.