Blinded by ego and ruined by pride!

WORD 2day: Saturday, 22nd week in Ordinary time

September 3, 2022: 1 Corinthians 4: 6b-15; Luke 6: 1-5

It is better to be ignorant or deprived than to be haughty with pride, warn the readings today. The Pharisees and the Scribes constantly had a problem with Jesus, not because Jesus was wrong, and not even because they did not know what Jesus was upto! They knew what Jesus was hinting at every time he broke a law or a custom. They knew that Jesus had something to communicate and they even knew what he had to tell them! But the problem was, they did not want to listen to him, much less, accept his stand point. Simply because of the pride that ruled their minds and ruined their situation.

What the Pharisees and the Saducees needed was not a new knowledge, they knew it all. The unfortunate situation was that they did not realise what they knew, they did not live up to what they understood, they were not prepared to give up on their pride and glory and that prevented them from beholding the glory of the Lord that was present among them, in Christ Jesus. Just so with us. It is not that we do not know, but we are not ready to admit what we know, because with that we would have to make a lot of changes in our lives; we would have to give up on the comfort zones that we have created for ourselves. And worst of all, it is such a difficult task for us to admit that we need change, because our ego hurts.

Our sense of ego and our urge to prove ourselves can sometimes fill us with a prejudice so strong that we can miss the obvious, something that is present right in front of our eyes!  Not just the pharisees and the scribes in Jesus' time, but even for us, this is a real danger. With our preconceived ideas and over glorified ego, we would be so filled with ourselves, that we would not be able to see, feel with or love our brothers and sisters with us. We could grow so touchy, that no one can tell us what we really need to hear to change our lives. And that is where we run the risk of not beholding the Lord who is right beside us, blinded by our ego and ruined by our pride!