The Pharisians

(A meditation on the parable of  The  Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Lk.18: 9-14)

Pharisian Institute  is the name of a large international Society. Its members are called Pharisians. It is one of the largest Congregations. Its members are scattered throughout the world.  Their special charism is legal matters. They are specially trained to speak logically and to argue cases. Its members need to have a thorough knowledge of the law.

 I do not know whether you had the privilege of meeting some of its members. I had a friend who was a member of this society. We lived together in the same community for some years. He was orderly and disciplined. He dressed neatly and walked straight. He would rise on time, and come to pray ahead of others. He meditated on the Gospel of the day and read an article of the Constitution each day. He would sit on one of the front  benches. He wanted others not only to notice him but also to imitate him. He would skip food twice a week and he would make sure others knew about it.  When praying his head would be bent anywhere between fifteen to twenty degrees. He wore a long white robe on most of the days, especially on days of fast. He was exteriorly stiff and legally almost ’blameless’.

But he had a serious problem. He could not get along with other people. He demanded his austere style of life from others. He was a workaholic and he demanded hard work from others. He unequivocally condemned laziness and laxity in others. He could not understand why others could not be like him. When he saw others not living according to the rules, he would accuse them of infidelity even in public. All those who were not like him he considered them to be either thieves or rogues. Of course, no condemnation was complete without accusing them of adultery. He often thanked God with uplifted hands  that he was ‘not like the rest of mankind’.

He wanted his superiors to take strict action against the unfaithful and disobedient members of his congregation. He would also accuse the superiors if they happened to be friendly with these lax members. He would boycott celebrations if these lax members also joined. He would be very upset and angry if his superiors ever joined in their partying. As he was influential and had financial clout superiors at times had to side with him even if it meant injustice to the others. It is not that they disliked celebrations and light moments but they did not want others to know about it. One day my Parisian friend was having a cigarette. As I approached him he tried to hide the cigarette behind him. He could not see the smoke that was rising behind him as he pretended and wryly smiled. In order not to embarrass him I quit the place at once. 

To defend some of the articles of the law he would argue, accuse, condemn and at times did not hesitate to use even violence. The rule and the law were sacred, and in its defence, he often violated the most important law – that of Charity. On one occasion my friend was in such a hurry to defend a legal case that he left alone on the road a man who had met with an accident.  Punctuality and legality were more important to him than Charity.

My friend was an enthusiastic missionary too. He would travel to distant villages to make new converts. Often the simple village people had very little knowledge of the rules and regulations of the Church. They could not memorise the Prayers, nor keep all the rubrics of the liturgy faithfully. The high expectations from my friend soon alienated him from the people. People wanted him to be more charitable than liturgical. Unable to cope with his demands, the people gradually skipped prayer meetings and also failed to make their contributions on time. Soon these good-willed simple people who left their traditional ways and joined the new way of life became ‘rootless’  belonging neither ‘here nor there.’ The plight of these people did not affect my friend much, he continued to travel  to other places in search of new members while the old ones dropped out!

There are large number of members in the Pharisian Congregation. Since they are educated, polished in their behaviour, and well-dressed, they are often invited to gatherings. They take it as their right to occupy the front chair. When they are introduced, their titles and qualifications are to be announced properly. Their names are often sand-witched between long decrees. They are happy to display their titles and decrees in brochures and display boards. Owe to you if you leave out their titles and decrees and call them only just by name!

Financially, Parisians are a well-to-do Society. They are held in high esteem by the people as teachers of the law. People generously give donations and request their blessing in return. They  eat and dress  well. They are quite generous also. Any parish priest would be happy to have them in their parish for they give part of their earnings to the church. The more they are praised and acknowledged, the more they are willing to give. On feast days, they are given special crowns and seats of honour as an acknowledgement of their contribution.

They don’t speak much except when arguing and defending. They are best to themselves when they are practising their charism – the legal profession.

I should have told you perhaps at the beginning itself, that this congregation has its roots in the B.C. times. It is more than two thousand years since the Pharisians were founded.  Many Religious Congregations die out after a few centuries of their foundation, but Pharisians have a strong following even today. A special privilege is granted to members of any Religious Congregation or Institute to join  the Pharisians. There are staunch followers of Pharisians within religious  Congregations and Institutes. They are free to have dual membership.

At the time of Jesus, the Pharisians were very active. There are pieces of evidence to show that even Jesus  had interaction with few of its members. But it was clear from the beginning that their narrow interpretation of the law, fundamentally differed from the broad interpretation of Jesus. Jesus was a people-oriented person. He did not hesitate to go among those who transgressed the law and even forgive them.  He was friendly with sinners and even ate with them while the Pharisians kept aloof from such people. Jesus had a rough time with this group of ‘religious’ people. While they accused Jesus of being a ‘friend of sinners and publicans’ Jesus’ assessment of them was that they were like  ‘white-washed sepulchres’. It was a strong indictment of a group who were thought to be ‘blameless’ and ‘holy’.  Now that Jesus has given such a verdict about them, the Church as well as Congregations that have Pharisians among their members should seriously think of suppressing such a group.

-        T.V. Georgesdb