“Now you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but your inside is full of rapine and iniquity.”

We live in a hard water area where mineral deposits can build up on a coffee pot and actually prevent it from brewing a brisk, steaming cup of Joe. To all outward appearances the coffee pot looks fine, but when you try to brew a pot, it steams and sputters, grumbles and growls like a self-important phony - - like a Pharisee. 

The Pharisees were pristine clean on the outside, but fouled up on the inside. They went through all the motions; huffed and puffed, spouted off and spewed invective in every direction. They sure sounded good. But theirs was a bitter brew. They were so full of themselves that they never emptied the cup in order to clean the inside.

To empty the cup, is to answer the call to holiness each day. It means slowing down and setting aside the cares of the world, in order to spend some quite time in prayer, reflection and spiritual reading. It means starting each morning with an attitude of gratitude, thanking God in advance for all He is about to do in our lives. It means offering the day up to Him and asking Him to fill us with the Holy Spirit. It means embracing simplicity and giving of ourselves in order to meet the needs of others. It means frequent participation in the Mass and an examination of conscience at night.