[Salvation]

The Work of God

Year B

 -  22nd Sunday in ordinary time

This people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

1 And there assembled together unto him the Pharisees and some of the scribes, coming from Jerusalem.
2 And when they had seen some of his disciples eat bread with unclean hands, they found fault.
3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews eat not without often washing their hands, holding the tradition of the ancients:
4 And when they come from the market, unless they be washed, they eat not: and many other things there are that have been delivered to them to observe, the washings of cups and of pots, and of brazen vessels, and of beds.
5 And the Pharisees and scribes asked him: Why do not your disciples walk according to the tradition of the ancients, but they eat bread with unclean hands?
6 But he answering, said to them: Well did Isaiah to prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
7 And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and precepts of men.
8 For leaving the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pots and of cups: and many other things you do like to these.
14 And calling again the multitude unto him, he said to them: Hear me, all of you, and understand.
15 There is nothing from outside a man that entering into him, can defile him. But the things which come from a man, those are they that defile a man.
21 For from within out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile a man.

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus

I said, “do not judge” because he who judges will be judged. It is very common in the spiritual life to think that human efforts may lead to sanctity, but I want to remind you that God is the one who builds the spiritual house, not man. Those whose efforts are not combined with obedience forfeit the grace that is always given to the humble.

The Pharisees used to criticize my disciples and doubted my teachings, they had become proud and thought that they were better than everybody else. Today, there are many who criticize those who are in the spiritual life; and putting aside my teachings they think that they are in a higher spiritual position. This is why I said, the first will be the last, and the last will be the first.

What is human opinion before God? I am the Master, and my teaching brings perfection to the soul. There is nothing good in personal opinion since that is contaminated with self-love and is always mixed with pride, even in the souls closest to me. This is why I have called you to learn from me, who am humble of heart. I the greatest, the King, have become the slave of humanity and have come to serve you.

It is very serious to judge others, because only God knows the heart of everyone, he who imparts judgment is putting himself above the person being judged and loses merit for many of his good deeds. It is of no value to offer me prayer, when the heart is rejecting my teachings; it is worthless to offer me lip service when the soul is full of egoism and the heart is far away from me.

He who wants to be forgiven must forgive others, he who wants to know what concept I have of him, must abandon all judgment to others, he who wants to be worthy of me, must recognize constantly his indignity and must live in accordance to his repentance.

He who wishes to grow spiritually must be filled with me, so that he can become a fountain of living water and so that from his heart may come good works as a testimony of my Presence in his life.

 

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary

[Salvation]

The Road to Emmaus

Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

By Brian Pizzalato * 

First Reading – Dt. 4:1-2, 6-8

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5

Second Reading – Jam. 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27

Gospel Reading – Mk. 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

This Sunday, after having heard from John 6 for the last five weeks, we now return to the Gospel of Mark. In the reading from Mark for the twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary time, coupled with the Old Testament reading from the book of Deuteronomy, we learn that sometimes we just don’t learn.

What we hear from the book of Deuteronomy takes place after the Israelites have wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, which was a punishment for not trusting the Lord. They are now on the plains of Moab listening to Moses give one last teaching before he dies, and they enter into the Promised Land. They are renewing the covenant first made a Mt. Sinai 40 years earlier, with the Deuteronomic covenant. Moses tells them clearly, "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you" (Deuteronomy 4:2). Did they learn from Moses? Did the add or take away from the commands of the Lord?

When we come to the Pharisees in Mark’s Gospel this is precisely what they have done, added to the Law of Moses. As Mary Healy notes in her book, The Gospel of Mark, "The law of Moses had prescribed rules for cultic purity of priests, including the washing of their hands and feet before offering sacrifices and ritual purity before eating their share of a sacrifice. These biblical rules apply only to priests serving at the altar, but the oral tradition developed by the Pharisees had extended them to govern the behavior of all Jews at all meals…" (pp. 135-136, original emphasis). The washing of hands did not have to do with hygiene, but with ritual purity.

In Mark 7:13, a verse not read in this Sunday’s reading, Jesus makes clear what the Pharisees have done, they are "…making void the word of God through the tradition which you hand on." Here he is speaking in reference to their not keeping the fourth commandment to honor their father and mother, in favor of keeping a tradition they have made up. Jesus introduced what he was going to say here by quoting Isaiah 29:13, "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain to they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men" (Mark 7:6-7). Jesus then says, "You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast to the tradition of men" (Mark 7:8). Jesus and his disciples have, on the other hand, left behind the traditions of men to hold fast to the commandment of God.

Jesus’ issue is not with tradition as such. It is with merely human traditions which make void the word of God, i.e. his commandments. The Pharisees have used their traditions to get around keeping the Ten Commandments. They are giving God lip service. They want to seem holy to everyone who sees them, but inside they have forsaken the Lord. They are hypocrites, stage actors, pretending to be something they are not.

Jesus turns their understanding of holiness and purity on its head. "There is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him" (Mark 7:15). Exterior things cannot defile. It is what is in the heart and what comes out of the heart and lips that defile. Jesus moves them from exterior to the interior dimension of holiness and purity.

Jesus says, "What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride foolishness" (Mark 7:21-22). Though the Pharisees may appear holy and pure from the outside because they wash their hands, they are in fact unholy and impure on the inside. As Jesus will say in the Gospel of Matthew, they are like "whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness" (23:27).

One lesson for the day is that all religious practices that have an outward appearance, need to come from the heart. The outward should be a true expression of the interior dimension of the person, and his devotion to God.