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Jesus said, “Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You
cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but
inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind
Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of
the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”
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The
first “Star Wars Trilogy” of George Lucas ends
with
hope. Convinced
that there was good in
Darth Vader, his father, Luke gave himself up to him with the desire to
prove
his conviction. He
entered into the
encounter with the advice of Obi-Wan and Yoda that Vader no longer had
a
possibility of good. So,
armed only with
the power of The Force and his own personal feeling that his father was
basically good, Luke set out to initiate the conversion of someone who
had come
to epitomize evil. It
seemed an
impossible task.
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Jesus
wanted conversion for the
scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of his time. It seemed
an
impossible task. His
problem with them was not so much that
they would not accept the new religion that he preached, but it was
that their
behavior should have been better. They
needed conversion, the way Darth Vader needed
conversion, and just
as Luke Skywalker wanted it for his father, Jesus wanted it for the
religious
leaders. He tells
the leaders, “Cleanse
first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be
clean.” That
is, change your heart, so that your
conversion may take place.
Conversions from evil to good take place in every age. Such is the hope of Christianity. The belief of a Christian rests on the foundation that if people see the good, eventually they will want the good. The crux of a conversion event, however, comes in “seeing the good.” All people possess the capability of good, but there are many who do not recognize it. We also must know another fact of the process of conversion if we are to accomplish any spiritual development at all: conversions must be ongoing. There are some areas in our individual lives right now that can benefit from a “turning to the good.” No matter who we are, if we are honest with ourselves, we can see that we are probably not accomplishing as much good in our lives as we could. We may not need the conversion experience of a Darth Vader or a Pharisee in which our lives are completely changed, but everyone of us needs some type of conversion. |
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THOUGHT
What
are some areas of my life that need “conversion”? What
should I do about
them?
PRAYER Good
and gracious God, your Son wanted conversion of everyone he met on
this earth, especially the religious leaders who should have been
living out
their religious beliefs. As
we listen to
him speak to the scribes and Pharisees, help us understand that we need
ongoing
conversion to be better than we are now. Be
with us, we pray.
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©2007 Capuchin
Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |
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