Are you a Pharisee caught up in externals? According to Father Thomas J. Rosica, CSB ; you just might be!

I confess that I am a Pharisee and I am caught up in externals.

You see, I believe that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary brought forward in time. It is the blood atonement, the propitiatory sacrifice by the Son through the Holy Spirit to the Father for the remission of my sins and those of the whole world. 

Since it is the most perfect worship to God in Trinity and in Unity it must be the most beautiful and worthy that we can make it. To quote from the masthead on this blog by St. Pius X, "the beauty and sumptuousness of the Temple, the splendour and accurate performance of the ceremonies." I am hung-up on these externals spoken of so eloquently by the holy Pope and Saint who was clearly hung up on those same, "externals."

In today's Epistle for the XIV Sunday after Pentecost, St. Paul tells us and the Galatians:

"Brethren: Walk in the Spirit: and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh: For these are contrary one to another: so that you do not the things that you would. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest: which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, Mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences."

According to Father Thomas J. Rosica, of that wonderfully faithful and growing Congregation of St. Basil, and the incredibly orthodox Salt + Light Television, if one tries to live according to St. Paul's teaching, one is a Pharisee.

"Who are the modern-day Pharisees and their followers? The blind modern-day Pharisees and their blind followers are very religious, moral, zealous people. They strive to keep God’s law, and they are zealous in their religious duties. They diligently attend Church every Sunday. They are hardworking, outwardly upright citizens. They keep themselves from and preach against moral evil. In addition to being moral and religious and zealous, modern-day Pharisees and their followers do not believe that salvation is conditioned on the work of Christ alone; instead, they believe that salvation is ultimately up to human efforts and what the sinner adds to Christ’s work!"

If you take your Catholic faith seriously as the true religion revealed by the God, if you try to live a moral life as St. Paul advises above, if you are zealous for the faith and Christ as we are told in the psalms, "zeal" for His house, you too are a Pharisee. 

If you strive to keep God's law, The Ten Commandments and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and do your religious duty, you are even more of a Pharisee. 

It you attend Mass every Sunday, which is a precept of the Church; if you are hardworking and if you avoid the "near occasion of sin" and preach the truth of Christ and call sin, sin, then you are also a Pharisee.

You are obviously only an "outwardly upright citizen" because the truth is, you're a cheating, lying, fornicating, envious, slothful, lusting, slanderous, evil, cursing, greedy, blasphemous and covetous old hypocrite!

Not only that, but rather than cooperating with grace and the salvation offered by Our Lord Jesus Christ, you're really a closet Pelagian. 

Now, whether or not you're a "self-absorbed promethean, neo-pelagian" you'll have to ask the Bishop of Rome.

But as for Father Thomas Rosica, I have one question, "Who are you to judge?"

Oh, and if I've been incorrect with any of the above, sue me!