Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 09-02-12, Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 09-02-12 | Revised New American Bible

[Salvation]

Sunday Scripture Study

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time  -  Cycle B

September 2, 2012

Click here for USCCB readings

Opening Prayer  

First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8

Psalm: 15:2-5

Second Reading: James 1:17-18,21b-22,27

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

• The cycle of readings return to the Gospel of Mark after a four week detour through John 6. Jesus is now in the town of Gennesaret on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee where he has been conducting a healing ministry (Mark 6:53-56).

• He is approached by some Pharisees (a religious/political party) who are joined by scribes (religious legal experts) from Jerusalem, the religious center of Israel.

• Jesus’ entire ministry is marked by conflict with certain Pharisees of his time (Matthew 23 and following, for example). Respected by the people as engaging in religious purity as a form of resistance against the pagan Roman occupiers of Israel, their approach, nonetheless, often tended toward external ritualism, legalism, and self-righteousness (Luke 18:9-14 Matthew 6:1-6). It is for this attitude that Jesus criticizes them in today’s Gospel.

• The issue at hand is that of being ritually “clean” or “unclean”—what should be the basis of our holiness in our worship and everyday conduct? Jesus’ teaching in this area (verses 14-23) is reflects the biblical concept of “the heart” as being the center of the person and source of every decision that results in action (Matthew 5:28).

 

QUESTIONS:

• According to the first and second readings, is God’s Law a good thing or a bad thing? When can the observance of God’s laws turn negative rather than positive? Is the problem with God’s Law—or does it lie somewhere else?

• How will the Church later struggle with this issue of dietary laws, i.e., clean/unclean foods (see Acts 10:9-16; Acts 15; Romans 14:13-23; Galatians 2:11-16; CCC 582?

• Why does Jesus place the source of defilement within the heart of a person rather than, say, the imagination? What things come out of a defiled heart (verses 21-22; Galatians 5:19-21; Romans 1:29-31; 1 Peter 4:3)?

• Where does Jesus place the responsibility for being clean—on the circumstance or on you? What events in your life might illustrate how things that come out of you can make you clean or unclean? What are some ways we can purify our hearts?

• How do you cope with distraction at the liturgy (the Mass)? What do you bring to the liturgy so as to draw your heart nearer to God? Can you say that your participation at the liturgy amounts to more than “lip service?” How can you enter more deeply into worship?

Catechism of the Catholic Church: §§ 577—582, 2517

 

This is an answer to those who consider that evil thoughts are simply injected by the devil and that they do not spring from our own will. He can add strength to our bad thoughts and inflame them, but he cannot originate them.

–St. Bede the Venerable (ca. A.D. 725)

[Salvation]

22nd Sunday: Unstained and Undefiled

(James Tissot)

"Hear me all of you and understand!

Sunday Word: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/090212.cfm

 

Deut 4: 1-2, 6-8

James 1: 17-18, 21b-22, 27

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

Doing the same thing over and over again may lead to impressive results. We may become quite successful, perhaps even proficient as in the skill of playing a musical instrument, ice skating, playing soccer, or cooking.  Perfecting a certain technique may take years of repetitive discipline until one day it all comes together!  Watching an Olympic athlete or a professional musician whose skill is near perfect makes a complex set of turns, stretches and dips or movements of the hand appear effortless. 

This Sunday our Scriptures invite us to consider the value of practice makes perfect but in regards to our life of faith.  The Book of Deuteronomy presents Moses in his role as prophet and teacher: “Now Israel, hear the statues and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you . . .”

Moses reminds the people why they followed the God who revealed himself to Moses.  Because he remained near to them, he destroyed their enemies, he cared for them, he heard their groaning and fears and responded with water, manna, and quail - the "bread from heaven."  The God of the Hebrews was certainly unique from the gods of other pagan people around them. Those gods were distant and unresponsive for there is no other god that can do for them what the true living God will do.

Therefore, Moses admonishes the people to mark carefully, without change, to observe, “. . . the commandments of the Lord, your God . . .” In doing so, they will be a “wise and intelligent people . . .” and an example of right living to all around them. This sacred Law of God demands of them a high moral character; a change of heart and mind and conformity to right relationship.

Human nature being what it is, though, it will take practice over time to reach understanding and to make these Laws a normal part of their life style. Yet, are we obedient for obedience sake or does God desire something more from us?  That is, do we obey by removing ourselves from others to remain undefiled or do we remove sin from our heart to serve the Lord more faithfully? That question is posed to Jesus.

The Pharisees with some scribes confront Jesus about his own disciples’ lack of obedience to the hygienic laws established before eating a meal. They, Jesus’ disciples, eat like the “common person, “like Gentiles not like Jews.  Law upon law had been established and the Pharisees created a religion of laws rather than a faith of the heart.  “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders . . .?,” they grill Jesus.

The view was essentially that Jews needed to remain somehow unique and different from others around them.  Such scrupulous meal rituals as we hear of in the Gospel today became a way to say, “We are not like you.” But our Lord makes it clear that a higher law is what changes us. 

“You disregard God’s commandments but cling to human tradition . . .” Jesus criticizes the leaders.  It is what is inside a man/woman’s heart that needs to be changed.  Then, Jesus’ list of the fallen human “heart” is disturbing but true: “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice deceit, licentiousness (decadence), envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly . . .” My, my how politically incorrect he sounds!

Obedience to the Law of God will cure the sickness of our souls.  It isn’t about outward appearance, about looking holy and good, about walking around with hands folded and eyes downcast, or about shaving and grooming, or dare I say a slavish following of liturgical rubrics which will make us acceptable before the Lord. This is not to say that we should go around looking like we just woke up from the nearest landfill or that our sacred liturgies should be sloppy, unprepared, or dull and uninspiring. It is about a higher law at work in our hearts that addresses our constant need for reform.

The moral for us in this day and age, it seems, is not much different than it was for the ancients. The human heart hasn’t changed much.  Anyone who may feel that unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, envy, or blasphemy are somehow passé needs to listen to the evening news or speak to any priest who has heard confessions.

The complexity of present day culture, speaking with many conflicting voices about freedom, individual rights, equality, gender identity, toleration is pulling all of us to question which “law” is the most applicable for today.  Is every choice or life style to be embraced? So we question, or at least we should, the confusion created.  The Church does as well as it has in every age of history – sometimes very effectively and sometimes on its knees in repentance.  

But the voices today are loud and more forceful due to modern means of communication.  The members reflect the culture of the time so we cannot help but bring the surrounding culture into our gatherings as well.  So, it seems to me, that accommodation is the key. 

When Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962 he suggested, “We open the windows of the Church to let in some fresh air.” For a time afterwards it seemed that meant that much of the culture around should be embraced but today we have come to see that a more mature and discerning mind and heart was the intention of our late Holy Father and the Fathers of the Council itself.

So, the positions of the Church today that have become flaming social points around marriage, the sanctity of life, family planning, have challenged us to ask how much can be accommodated by we Christians, stilled called to be different from those around us in that we question and are called as well to follow the higher moral code which God has revealed to us. 

Do you feel that a discerning heart is still needed today or is the Church simply out of touch by not accommodating more to present day social changes?  Is the rejection of same-sex so called marriage, abortions rights, and artificial contraception a judgment upon others or an embrace of the Law of God in rejection of the sins of the heart?

When we come to gather for the Eucharist, what do I bring with me that is worthy for the Lord? St. James wisely admonishes us today to, “. . . keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Jesus speaks in the Gospel: “Hear me, all of you, and understand.”  

Fr. Tim

[Salvation]

Insight Scoop

The cart of human tradition and the horse of divine Law

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, September 2, 2012 | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Dt 4:1-2, 6-8
• Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5
• Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
• Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

“Listen carefully, my child,
to your master's precepts,
and incline the ear of your heart.” So begins the Rule of Saint Benedict, written almost 1500 years ago. Taken from the fourth chapter of Proverbs, it is a pithy summation of today’s readings, all containing admonitions to hear and obey the word of God.

The first reading describes the beginning of the solemn and binding promulgation of the Law by God, through Moses, to the people of Israel. This supernatural gifting took place within the liturgical celebration and it was an essential part of the establishment of a covenant between the Lord and his people.

In receiving “the statutes and decrees,” the Israelites were formed into a “great nation.” The laws and commandments were not mere guidelines, but the creation of an identity and the making of a divine mission: “that you may live and may enter in and take possession of the land…”

Moving forward many centuries, we hear of yet another conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees. This dispute over Jewish legal customs takes up most of Mark 7 and is the continuation of a conflict initiated when Jesus healed the paralytic and then later ate with “sinners and tax collectors” (Mk. 2:16). The issue of unclean or unwashed hands was not about courtesy or personal hygiene, but, as Mark explains (for his non-Jewish readers), of ritual purification. In fact, there seems to be a note of sarcasm in the Evangelist’s description of “the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.”

The Law had described the necessary purification to be observed by the priests (cf. Ex. 30:17-21). Over time, the rabbis and scribes had developed an oral tradition meant to clarify, explain, and otherwise provide legal interpretation of the Law. (By the sixth century, this oral tradition was eventually put into writing and is known as the Mishnah, with additional commentary, the Talmud.) Although meant to protect and clarify the Law, this “tradition of the elders” had become an obstruction. Rather than providing a legal argument, as an equal would, Jesus strongly denounced the hypocrisy of a hollow, external practice: “The people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

The Law, as Paul stated so often, was meant to be a teacher and guide. But it had become secondary, even ignored, within a labyrinth of human laws and traditions. Was Jesus, as some Christians today argue, condemning tradition altogether? No, he was condemning “human tradition”, which the Apostle Paul also condemned (Col. 2:8). But Paul also exhorted the Thessalonians to “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thess. 2:15). And then there is the little matter of Jesus telling the disciples at the Last Supper: “Do this in remembrance of me”, which is an obvious establishment of an important tradition.

The problem with the Pharisees is that they had turned matters upside down; the cart of human tradition was pulling the horse of divine Law. The external actions found in the Law were meant to lead to an inner awareness of sin and the gift of God’s mercy. God’s word is meant to change man’s heart, which is the source of not only his emotions, but also his intellect and will (cf. 1 Jn. 3:19-21).

The Epistle of James explains that God “willed to give us birth by the word of truth,” planting within us the seed of salvation. Obeying that word is a matter of freely choosing to respond to what is heard (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 144), and in so responding, we become doers. Those who really hear God obey him; those who love God’s word become conformed to the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.

“Receive willingly,” continues the Rule, “and carry out effectively your loving father's advice, that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.”

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the August 30, 2009, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

Love's Invisible Radiance

By

Father Mark

 on September 1, 2012 10:07 PM |

 

There are so many tabernacles on earth
where I am, for all intents and purposes,
like one buried, hidden, forgotten, and out of sight.
My divine radiance is diminished
because there are so few adorers
to act as the receptors of My radiant Eucharistic love
and to extend My radiance through space
and into the universe of souls.

Where there is faith in My real presence,
there will be adoration;
and where there is adoration,
there will also be an efficacious radiance of My presence
drawing souls to My Eucharistic Heart
and surrounding them, even at a distance,
with the healing influence of My Eucharistic Face.

In those places where I am exposed upon the altar
to receive the adoration, the reparation,
and the companionship of My friends
-- and, first of all, of My priests --
My radiance is powerful and strong.
Faith., adoration, and love act as receptors;
thus is My power drawn out and made effective,
invisibly but really, in space and in time.
It was the same with My Sacred Humanity during My life on earth;
the faith and love of My friends
drew out the virtue of My Divinity,
and an invisible radiance acted in souls, and upon them,
bringing healing, holiness,
and many graces of conversion.

When I am adored in a place,
My hidden action upon souls is wonderfully increased.
The place where I am adored becomes a radiant centre
from which love, and life, and light
are diffused in a world in the grip of hatred,
and darkness, and death.

Chapels of adoration are not mere refuges for the devout.
They are the radiant, pulsating centres
of an intense divine activity
that goes beyond the walls of the place where I am adored
to penetrate homes, and schools, and hospitals;
to reach even those dark and cold places
wherein souls are enslaved to Satan;
to penetrate hearts, heal the infirm,
and call home those who have wandered far from Me.

For these reasons, the work of perpetual adoration,
or even of prolonged daily adoration,
is intensely apostolic and supernaturally efficacious.
Would that My bishops understood this!
But, alas, they put their trust in human schemes,
in plans devised by the worldly-wise,
and in programs drawn-up along shortsighted human principles.
And so they go, and they will continue to go
from failure to failure, and from disillusionment to disillusionment.

I have not set bishops over My flock
to govern, and to teach, and to sanctify, out of their personal abilities
and by making use of the wisdom of this passing world.
I have set them as lights upon a lampstand
to shine in every dark place,
and I have equipped them with supernatural gifts and divine power
to accomplish that for which I chose them
and set them over My Church.

Woe to those bishops
who trust in purely human solutions
to the problems that beset My Church.
They will be grievously disappointed,
and many souls will fall away
because they have neglected to take up
the supernatural weapons I have prepared for them
in this time of spiritual combat.

My presence in the Blessed Sacrament
preached, and confessed,
and surrounded by adoration, love, and heartfelt reparation
is the single greatest remedy for the evils that afflict My Church
and for the sorrows that weigh so heavily upon My priests.

My ways are not your ways,
nor do I act according to the principles of worldly success.
I act in the silent, humble, hidden reality of My Eucharistic presence.
Adore Me, and the radiance of My Eucharistic Face
will begin to change the face of the earth,
even as it heals My priests, calls sinners home to My Heart,
and enlivens the hearts of those grown weary and sad
(like the disciples on the road to Emmaus)
with a spark of divine vitality and with the fire of My Eucharistic love.

I speak to you in this way not only for you,
beloved friend of My Heart,
but also for those who will receive these words, ponder them,
and out of them draw the inspiration
to love Me more generously, more fruitfully, and more joyfully.
I speak to you for the sake of My priests.
You will be astonished at the reception given to these words of Mine.
Many souls of priests will be quickened and consoled by them.
Many priests will be moved to spend time
in the radiance of My Eucharistic Face,
and to abide close to My pierced Heart.
This is My desire for them.
I want to draw all My priests into the radiance of My Face
and, then, into the sanctuary of My open Heart.

From In Sinu Iesu, The Journal of a Priest

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

Accedite ad eum et illuminamini

By

Father Mark

 on September 2, 2012 5:56 AM |

 

Morning Musings on the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians 5,16-24

I say then: Walk in the spirit: and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh: For these are contrary one to another: so that you do not the things that you would.But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.

Abide in Christ

What does Saint Paul mean when he enjoins us to "walk in the spirit"? He means, I think, that we are to abide in Our Lord Jesus Christ. Does not the same Apostle say elsewhere, "But he who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit with Him"? (1 Corinthians 6:17) And does not Our Lord Himself say, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine: you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. " (John 15:4-5)

Now the works of the flesh are manifest: which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God.

There are some souls whose fear of falling into the "works of the flesh" is greater than their desire to live in union with Christ. Desire Christ, putting nothing before His love, preferring Him to all else, and the works of the flesh will dry up and fall away by themselves.

Gaze Upon Christ

I have known souls whose concentration on sin is more intense than their concentration on the Face of Christ and on the merciful love of His Heart. These souls are never at peace. They are forever examining themselves, and searching for evidence of sin and imperfection where they should be searching for evidence of the grace of Christ and His readiness to raise up the fallen, heal the broken-hearted, and bind up their wounds.

It is more effective, and more fruitful, to love virtue than to live, at every moment, in the fear of vice. By this I do not mean that one should not fear vice and hate sin; I mean, rather, that to focus on such things is unhealthy for the soul and breeds a spirituality of pessimism and gloom.

Castitatem Amare

Take, for example, Saint Benedict's approach to the virtue of chastity. In the entire Rule of Saint Benedict there are but two words relative to this virtue: castitatem amare. Whereas other monastic rules treat of chastity at great length, Saint Benedict says simply and succinctly: castitatem amare, to love chastity. These two words say all that needs to be said on the subject. There is nothing negative here; no stifling prohibitions and no minute regulations. Saint Benedict's approach is entirely positive. He presents chastity as beautiful; it is this that makes it worthy of love. All virtue is a participation in the beauty, the truth, and the goodness of God. Saint Benedict understands that one who loves the beauty of chastity will rise to a higher love: the love of the beauty that shines on the Face of Christ.

But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences.

The Fruits of the Holy Ghost

Saint Paul gives us here the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost. The tree upon which these fruits grow has seven branches, these being the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. And the root and trunk of the tree are none other than the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

When I was a young monk, the same Dom R.C. whom I have mentioned elsewhere, and who had such a beneficial influence on me, told me that he liked to ruminate the list of the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost. He was practising a spiritual hygiene of thought. He was, in effect, fulfilling what Saint Paul enjoins us to do:

For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things. The things which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, these do ye, and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9)

Spiritual Hygiene

This spiritual hygiene of thought has another side to it: there are things that are not fitting, or helpful, or worthy of the thought and conversation of Christians: "fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness." It is a pity when talented writers and speakers waste their gifts on calling attention to the sins and weaknesses -- generally sins and weaknesses of the flesh -- of fellow Christians and, notably, of the clergy, instead of employing their gifts to call attention to the beauty of God in his saints.

Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: Or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose; but rather giving of thanks. (Ephesians 5:2-4)

The Lord is Wonderful in His Saints

Attention to virtue fosters virtue. Attention to vice foments bitterness, sadness, discouragement, unrest, and rash judgment. One needs, I think, to take a lesson from the liturgical calendar and rejoice, day after day, in the beauty of Christ who is, as the Invitatory Antiphon puts it, "wonderful in His saints."

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

What Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ?

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 

 

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

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds. So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God´s commandment but cling to human tradition." He summoned the crowd again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile."

Introductory Prayer: Lord God, I come from dust and to dust I shall return. You, however, existed before all time, and every creature takes its being from you. You formed me in my mother’s womb with infinite care, and you watch over me tenderly. I hope you will embrace my soul at my death to carry me home to heaven to be with you forever. Thank you for looking upon me and blessing me with your love. Take my love in return. I humbly offer you all that I am.

Petition: Lord, give me confidence in the power of your grace.

1. Look at the Real Dangers: Christ feared nothing. He wasn’t afraid of Satan. He wasn’t afraid of public opinion. He wasn’t afraid of the narrow road and hard path. Even though it would cause him to sweat blood, he wasn’t even afraid to fulfill his Father’s plan for him as the Suffering Servant. Through his words and way of life, he was constantly encouraging his followers to watch out for dangers and to pray not to be put to the test. He knows that there are real dangers out there: “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away” (Matthew 5:29). “Woe to him who scandalizes one of these little ones” (cf. Matthew 18:6). “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees” (Matthew 16:6). “Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat” (Luke 22:31). Christ will always point out for me the real dangers that exist in my life.

2. I Will Not Take Them from You: Christ clearly warns us, and our own experience confirms, that God normally will not remove these dangers from our lives. These dangers will usually remain whether they be exterior — “Father, I ask not that you remove them from this world” — or interior. When St. Paul would ask Christ to remove the thorn from his side, Christ simply replies, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). In the thick of these sufferings, it is hard for us to understand why God would permit them. But maybe we can find some reason in Christ’s words today. May it never be said of a Christian: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Suffering and hardship often keep our heart close to Christ.

3. I Will Give You the Grace to Overcome Them: Very much aware of both the internal and external dangers that would await them, Christ was not afraid to send his apostles out into the world. He sends us out as “sheep among wolves” (cf. Matthew 10:16) into a world that will “hate you as it hated me” (cf. Matthew 24:9). He distributes his divine word and precious grace to the world through us, fragile earthen vessels. Through his Vicar on Earth, he tells us, “Be not afraid.” Moreover, he expects us to produce one-hundred fold and give fruits that will last. What is the key to his confidence? The key is the humble person who is ever ready to look inwardly and purify his heart from the smallest attachment, the slightest impurity, making it an acceptable dwelling place for Christ. What…who…can separate us from the love of Christ? What is there to fear but those “evils that come from within and defile?”

Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for reminding me about the beauty of being your friend, and at the same time about the awesome responsibility that goes along with it. Please give me the generosity to live my role as your ambassador and help me to continually spread your message of love with all that I do.

Resolution: I will set aside some time today and ask Christ to help me identify any attachments to sin in my heart. I will write them down and look for concrete ways to purify my heart from them.

[Salvation]

It Really Doesn't Matter

[Salvation]

Scripture Speaks: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

• Faith
• August 29th, 2012
• Gayle Somers

The Pharisees ask Jesus a question about hand washing before meals and wind up being called hypocrites.  What happened?

Gospel (Read Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

St. Mark tells us that some Pharisees and scribes came out from Jerusalem to observe Jesus (He was ministering in Galilee, to the north).  He had been curing many people and was attracting significant crowds (see Mk 6:53-56).  However, rather than being impressed by this miraculous work, “the Pharisees and scribes questioned Him, ‘Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?’”  It’s an odd question, considering all the others they could have asked Him.  They were focused on the “tradition of the elders” concerning ritual washing—not just hands, as St. Mark tells us, but “cups and jugs and kettles and beds.”  We need to understand that this “tradition of the elders” was not part of the Law of Moses.  The Pharisees placed heavy emphasis on separation from Gentile culture as the only way to maintain ethnic identity while they lived under foreign domination.  The elaborate washing rituals intensified this separation and need for purity, and, in Jesus’ day, had been elevated to the same status as the Law.

Still, why did Jesus erupt with His charge of hypocrisy when they asked about their tradition of hand washing?  What does He see behind the question?  He must have seen their hearts.  That is why He quotes Isaiah:  “This people honors Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.”  What did He mean?  In verses not included in our reading, Jesus describes how the Pharisees had developed a way of “rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep [their] tradition.”  He goes on to describe an example.  Even though the Law of Moses required Jews to honor their parents, the Pharisees had figured out a way to piously avoid obeying that law with one of their “traditions.”  They could simply declare that any assets they might have used to help care for their parents were “corban,” or dedicated to God’s service.  It is wonderful, of course, to dedicate money to God’s service, but that can’t be done instead of caring for elderly parents.  In that case, their “tradition” had allowed them to “disregard God’s commandment” and “cling to human tradition.”  Jews who lived that way may have honored God with their lips and with other external pious rituals, like washing, but their hearts were far from Him.

Jesus used this opportunity to remind the Jews of something they should have known.  “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person, but the things that come from within are what defile.”  The Law of Moses always aimed at the heart and the behavior that issued from it.  Jesus made that clear in the Sermon on the Mount.  All their laws of ritual purification (dietary, contact with blood, etc.) were meant to teach them the difference between holiness and worldliness.  They needed to be willing to separate themselves from the world so they could be witnesses to the world (a “kingdom of priests”) of a new kind of life.  Keeping the external laws of purification did not excuse them from obedience of the heart.  Whenever the religion of the Jews lapsed into keeping only the external ritual and ceremonial laws, their worship became “vain.”

Were these Pharisees guilty of that?  It seems so.  Their fault-finding and preoccupation with their own sectarian doctrines about ritual washing lifted the veil on hearts that Jesus perceived to be empty of true love of God.  Nothing in the Gospels irritated Him more than people going through the empty motions of religion.

Nothing.

Possible response:  Lord Jesus, I always want to think I don’t go through “empty motions of religion,” but I need to know I am susceptible to it.  Please show me whenever it happens.

First Reading (Read Deut 4:1-2, 6-8)

We can understand some of what provoked Jesus to anger in the Gospel when we read these words of Moses.  He was speaking to the people of Israel after their long sojourn in the wilderness as they made their way to the Promised Land.  He warned them not to “add to what I command you nor subtract from it.”  In Jesus’ day, that is what the Pharisees had done.  God gave the Law to His people to enable them to be witnesses “to the nations” of how near He is to His people and how wise and just His ways are.  God’s law enabled those who carefully observed it to practice love of God and love of neighbor, the true path to happiness.  The Ten Commandments still serve as our guide to this good life.  No tinkering is necessary!

Possible response:  Heavenly Father, thank You for the goodness of your Law.  Help me to always embrace it in both its letter and its spirit.

Psalm (Read Ps 15:2-5)

Our psalm gives more elaboration on the completeness of God’s Law to lead to happiness for the one who lives it from the heart.  See that keeping the law is not simply a matter of external ritual purity.  It involves “walking,” “doing,” and “thinking.”  The one who observes the Law keeps his tongue in check, doesn’t harm his neighbor, and loves God’s covenant people.  He is generous and honest in his dealings with money.  The psalmist tells us “whoever does these things shall never be disturbed.”  Our responsorial refrain explains why that is true:  “The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.”

Possible response:  The psalm is, itself, a response to our other readings.  Read it again prayerfully to make it your own.

Second Reading (Read James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27)

St. James assures us that God doesn’t change—what He gave to His people through Moses as a wise, just Law still works that way.  The difference between then and now is that, because God “willed to give us birth by the Word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures,” we are now able to keep the Law in the strength and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the Word Who “has been planted in [us] and is able to save [our] souls.”  The emphasis, of course, remains on being doers of the word, “not hearers only,” so that we don’t delude ourselves.  Self-delusion was what had overtaken the Pharisees.  St. James tells us that “religion that is pure and undefiled before God” is that which cares for the needy (“orphans and widows”) and seeks to live the virtues of heaven, not the vices so available from “the world,” the way of life that excludes God for the sake of self.  It is a matter of keeping our hearts clean, washed in our baptismal grace, rather than worrying about hands, cups, jugs, kettles, or beds.

Possible response:  Lord Jesus, help me look for ways today that I can practice “religion that is pure and undefiled before God.”

[Salvation]

Genuine Love of God

• Homily of the Day
• September 2nd, 2012
• Food For Thought

Sunday, September 2, 2012  by Food for Thought

FirstReading: Dt 4:1-2, 6-8
Psalm: Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5
SecondReading: Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
Gospel: Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

It is not uncommon to find people who would go to Mass every day and receive Holy Communion. But once the Mass is over, they unleash slander and poisonous gossip from their hearts and tongues. When they reach home, they curse and shout at their house-helps and
drivers.

Today, you would often find people at the back of the church, or in the parking lot chatting and playing while “attending Mass.” Often during Mass, cell phones would ring and people would rush out of the church to answer their phone calls, as if somebody more important than God is calling their attention.

Fr. Ruben Tanseco, S.J., tells the example of a young woman at the communion line, who right after receiving the sacred Host, turns around and starts texting obviously oblivious of whom she had just received. She may be physically present at Mass, but her heart and soul are not.

Often people would call to ask, “How late can I be before I’m considered missing Mass?” For them the Eucharist is a burden, an obligation they grudgingly have to comply with.

Then there are those who come to Mass to be entertained by the homilies of the priests, not to listen to the word of God. They complain when the priest explains the Scripture readings and draws lessons from them. They are pleased when the priest just cracks jokes and sings during homilies.

The Philippinesis the only Catholic country in Asiawith 80% to 90% of the people baptized as Catholics. Yet it is the country with problems of graft and corruption, violence and crimes, pornography, scams and scandals, dishonesty and selfishness. We practice what psychologists call “split-level Christianity.”

Today’s Scripture readings invite us to look into our hearts and to ask ourselves to what extent the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel reading apply to us: “This people honors Me with their lips, but
their hearts are far from Me.”

They invite us to look into our own hearts and ask ourselves to what extent the words of James in today’s second reading apply to us: “Act on [God's] word. If all you do is listen to it, you are
deceiving yourselves.”

Let’s close by prayerfully re-reading Paul’s famous words on love in his First Letter to the Corinthians:

“I may be able to speak the language of men and even of angels. But if I have no love,
My speech is no more than a noisy gong….

I may have all the faith needed to move mountains -
But if I have no love, I am nothing.
I may give away everything I have…
But if I have no love,
This does me no good….
It is love, then, that you should strive for.”

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 

<< Sunday, September 2, 2012 >>

22nd Sunday Ordinary Time

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27
View Readings

Psalm 15:2-5
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

ROOTS

 

"Humbly welcome the word that has taken root in you." —James 1:21

 

Millions of Catholics throughout the world will have attended Mass today. Each of them heard the word of God proclaimed in the above Scripture readings. "God's word is living" (Heb 4:12); it will seek to find a home in each person who heard it. God's word is seed (Lk 8:11); it can grow and take root within each person.

Using an analogy, this word planted within you resembles a living baby within the womb of its mother. The baby, while still an embryo, normally attaches to the mother's uterine wall and "takes root." Some mothers use chemical abortifacients to prevent the baby from taking root within them. The baby cannot take root and is aborted. If not aborted chemically, the baby will successfully take root and grow rapidly. As the baby grows, it can still be aborted surgically, which involves a violent uprooting from the mother's body.

Since God's word is living and will thus automatically grow, the question is: will you "humbly welcome the word that has taken root in you" (Jas 1:21) or will you abort the word and expel it from your life? The author of the book of James recommends that the best way to help the word take root is to act on the word and not just hear it (Jas 1:22). Did you let the word planted within you from last Sunday take root and grow? What will you do with the word of God planted within you today?

 

Prayer: Father, may I heed what I hear of Your word (Mk 7:16).

Promise: "He wills to bring us to birth with a word spoken in truth." —Jas 1:18

Praise: Praise Jesus, risen head of His Body, the Church! All glory and praise to the King of kings. Alleluia!

[Salvation]

 

Pray for an end to the Culture of Death in America!