St. Paul had a way of irritating people. St. Peter and the other original Apostles never did trust him, the Jewish leaders hated him and the Romans eventually executed him.

Yet, he managed to get more converts and establish more early churches than anyone of his time. Part of what endeared himself to those early Christians (and upset his enemies) was his honesty. His writings show a man of relentless energy and scrupulous integrity.

Today’s first reading from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is an example of his complex personality.

Almost always, the first reading at Mass is chronologically prior to the second reading, i.e, the Gospel. That is the case today. The Letter of Paul predates the Gospel of Luke. One can see that in the different attitudes towards the Pharisees. Today, centuries later, the word “Pharisee” is synonymous with hypocrite, but not in Paul’s time. He was a Pharisee and proud of it. He faithfully observed all 613 of the laws of Moses. He calls himself “blameless” in his practice of the Jewish faith and he backs that up by saying no one persecuted the early Christians more than he.

By the time the Gospel of Luke was finished, Paul was probably dead and in looking back on the life of Jesus, the Pharisees are now the enemy.

Although Jesus was killed by order of the Temple priests, Luke makes the Pharisees the primary enemy of Jesus. He calls them hypocrites, more interested in observing laws that no longer make sense. The example given in today’s reading is that the Pharisees accused Jesus of eating with sinners.  One would starve to death. No one is perfect and anyone who thinks they are isn’t being honest.

This idea that no one is more religious than anyone else is the cause of so much suffering in today’s world. Islamic fundamentalists are not the only fanatics of religion. There are extremist Hindus, extremist Jews, extremist Nationalists (like the Chinese and North Koreans) and extremist intolerant Christians, among whom, sad to say, are some Catholics.

This is not some academic distinction. People are being killed because someone thinks they are more perfect than someone else.

We have finished an election in this country and thank God it’s over. We have never really had a civil, mature debate in this country, but the addition of billions of dollars has infected our political discourse. Maybe that comes from religious intolerance; or, religious intolerance is fueled by big money. In either case, it is not healthy and a little humility and understanding- not to mention a change of heart and a lot more truth-telling will bring us to the full understanding of what it means to be a Catholic and a Christian today.

Jesus ate with sinners. That’s good news for honest people- everyone is invited to the table of Christ’s forgiveness and mercy.

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