These ought to be practiced, without neglecting the other obligations. A curse is on you,
Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace.
A curse is on you, for you are like tombstones of the dead which can hardly be seen; people
don’t notice them, and make themselves unclean by stepping on them.” Then a teacher of the
law spoke up and said, “Master, when you speak like this, you insult us, too.” And Jesus
answered, “A curse is on you also, teachers of the law. For you prepare unbearable burdens
and load them on the people, while you yourselves do not move a finger to help them.

Reflect

“Justice and our love of God.” There are times when the kind of justice we exercise appears to
be doublestandard. We seem to demand what is just for us but would fail to exercise justice
toward other people. Worse, there are instances when we tend to justify our double-standard
way of exercising justice with our claim that we love God. This particular claim is expressed
in a very narrow and limited manner, merely shown in rituals that have nothing to do with justice.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus expressed his ouai or woe addressed to the Pharisees and teachers
of the law. Remember that this kind of woe is an interjection of grief on the part of Jesus. Here,
Jesus expressed his grief because the Pharisees and the teachers of the law equate the love of
God with external rituals while forgetting to practice justice. As religious leaders during that
time, they were expected to be the first ones to exercise justice as the very expression of their
love of God. Justice and our love of God are inseparable. If we separate these two, we would
end up performing empty religious rituals.

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