What is necessary and what is not necessary.

Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, but have neglected what is more important in the law-justice, mercy, and faithfulness! This ought to have been done, and that neglected not. Blind leaders! You strain out the gnat and swallow the camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you cleanse the cup and the platter without, but within they are full of robbery and uncleanness! Blind Pharisee, clean the bowl first on the inside, so it may also be clean on the outside!” Mt 23,23-26

We often admire the beauty of houses from the outside. Some have a style of their own; it’s both a unique feature of this region and the fact that people appreciate the outside. But the inside is typically quite the opposite.
We can liken this to the behavior of the Pharisees and scribes, whom the Lord Jesus pronounces twice in the Gospel: Woe!
The Lord Jesus pronounces twice, “Woe!” Why? Because of the discrepancy in the lives of the Pharisees and scribes between their inner and outer life.

The nation’s leaders had reached the point where outward behavior was paramount to their teaching. In other words: their spiritual life and relationship to the Law remained only on the surface. Therefore, Jesus’ “woe” belongs to their outward fulfillment of the commandments. We know that the Lord Jesus answered one of them with a question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God… and your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:36-39).

They knew about both commandments, but this group of people, instead of paying attention to, for example, a social issue, only paid attention to what seemed to them to be the best. It happened that they knew to bring offerings and prescribed tithes of mint, cumin, and dill, but they forgot what their surroundings needed even more. They paid no attention to justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Yes, they brought the prescribed sacrifices, but their unwariness, which harbored a dislike for their neighbors and the needy, fell on deaf ears. It would have been more beautiful and better for them if they had shared with the poor and needy.
This attitude of the Lord Jesus tells us clearly that the inner mindset is more than ceremonial purity and that the law of love is higher than liturgical cultic regulations.

There is a great danger in every religion that, in time, the main principles become covered over, clogged with something unwholesome, their essence obscured. Therefore, we must be careful, and in time it is necessary to reflect on the body to discern rightly in life. There is a grave danger that even so-called good Christians may remain only on the surface of the spiritual life, and this will not only cease to satisfy them after a while, but sooner or later, they will fall away.

We are, after all, called to something beautiful, not only on the surface but also in-depth… That’s why we know that we fight against conventionality and tradition only externally because it doesn’t enrich us. The first trials will come, and shallowness will show itself. The spiritual life will then benefit and increase the believer when he can also make sacrifices for his faith. He knows how to take the time, how to renounce, and wants something more than what he must and ought.

That is why we mustn’t just put on an outward appearance – after all, I am praying! But what is your prayer? Is it regular? Focused? Is it, in your opinion, a real conversation? Wouldn’t you be ashamed to have such a conversation if you had it with someone next to you? What about dignity and poise? Or attending Mass – can I not only make time for it but also take in my surroundings before it begins? Can I control my thoughts and my posture during it? Can I realize that it is not just the outward gestures, the words, but something of that inner, extraordinary, hidden power? Am I not only doing a service to my neighbor so that he may one day give back to me? Can I see in helping another an expression of the love for Christ in every person?

The Lord Jesus warned the Pharisees and scribes that they were more concerned with outward appearance and not interested in the inward.
So let us pay attention to our inward appearance at least as much as we spend time on our outward appearance.
There are 24 hours a day. How many minutes of it can I find for God? Oh, if it were 24 minutes! During the one can pray one Rosary in the morning and the evening, the most basic prayers: the Our Father, the Hail, and the Glory. We must not understand this mathematically, but love has and must weigh more for us. This is the wish of Jesus Himself.

Do we also want the words to be valid, that it is all beautiful and friendly on the outside but not so lovely on the inside? No! On the contrary, it should be true of Christians that on the inside, their life is more beautiful because, on the outside, they are modest; they do not desire beauty, glory, and recognition because that is vanity; that is the flower that withers and fades.