Spot on, Hugh. This Sunday we'll hear at Mass about a nasty little man stuck up a tree who is really a glorified thief. Rightfully, Jesus tells him to get lost, that his behaviour automatically excludes him from his circle of friends and thereafter Jesus goes off to share a meal and stay with some proper religious people. 😋

It really astonishes me at times that otherwise sane, intelligent and good people sit Sunday after Sunday listening to these beautiful stories about the actual Jesus - not the transubstantiated version - welcoming those perceived to be sinners and obviously relishing their company. Yet they continually just don't 'get it.' They ignore Jesus completely  in preference for a form of legalism. It's a Catholic version of the Nuremberg defence.