Reflection on the Gospel for Tuesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time (Luke 11:37–41). Jesus didn't wash his hands before dinner, and his host noticed. What Jesus says next is about far more than hygiene.
In this installment of A Word of Hope, Fr. Yamil Samalot Rivera, a friar of the Dominican Province of St. Albert the Great stationed in Puerto Rico, walks us through the continuous reading of Luke's Gospel in the daily Eucharistic liturgy. In chapter 11, Jesus is invited by a Pharisee to a meal at his home, and right away the evangelist reveals the contradictions in the hearts of these men of God: deeply dedicated to the law, zealous about every prescription and commandment, yet remarkably closed off to the freshness of the Gospel Jesus was bringing them.
The host doesn't hesitate to express his shock at Jesus' fault: he didn't wash his hands before sitting down at the table. Honestly, Fr. Yamil notes, it sounds like a scolding we might have received from our parents as kids.
But Jesus doesn't respond with excuses, the way careless and forgetful children might. He responds as the Master who longs to open the Pharisee's heart so he can live in the freedom of the Gospel, which brings healing and salvation. His teaching about the inside and the outside, of things and of our very being, all coming from the same creative love of God, has a very concrete application: giving alms. Sharing what we have received with those most in need cleanses the inside far more than ritual observance done to satisfy our own ego with an "I checked the box."
For Jesus, that isn't enough. He expects from us an "I loved you."
Fr. Yamil closes with a brief word in Spanish for our Spanish-speaking viewers. May God bless you.
⏱️ TIMELINE
0:00 – Welcome to A Word of Hope
0:10 – Fr. Yamil Samalot Rivera, Dominican friar in Puerto Rico
0:17 – Luke 11: Jesus invited to a Pharisee's home
0:32 – The contradictions in the hearts of the Pharisees
0:52 – Closed off to the freshness of the Gospel
1:00 – Moved by Jesus' words, yet stuck in their own mindsets
1:16 – The host's shock at Jesus' "fault"
1:25 – He didn't wash his hands before the meal
1:31 – A scolding we all remember from childhood
1:39 – Jesus responds, not with excuses
1:49 – The Master who longs to open the Pharisee's heart
2:03 – Inside and outside: all from the same creative love of God
2:22 – Giving alms cleanses the inside
2:35 – Ritual observance to satisfy the ego: "I checked the box"
2:41 – For Jesus, that isn't enough
2:44 – What Jesus expects: "I loved you"
2:52 – A word in Spanish
3:11 – May God bless you
📖 Today's Readings
First Reading: Galatians 5:1–6
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119
Gospel: Luke 11:37–41
📍 Recorded in Puerto Rico
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