August 30, 2015

22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Deuteronomy 4: 1-2, 6-8; James 1: 17-18, 21-22, 27; Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

I’m thinking: how important is God in my life…in each of our lives? How important is what He tells me…in what He challenges each person to do? Where do I place these ‘rules’, these commandments in my life as far as importance?

All three of today’s readings express God’s Word… and all three declare that I and each person have a definitive responsibility to adhere to, act upon, and faithfully interpret God’s Word. These are commands…they are not ‘suggestions’…God is commanding me to live His teachings, His ways each and every day of my life.

The first reading is taken from the book of Deuteronomy, which is the fifth and last book of the Pentateuch (following Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers). All five were written by Moses. Deuteronomy means “second law”. It doesn’t contain a new law but is a “partial repetition, completion and explanation of the law proclaimed on Mount Sinai.” (Quote from the Catholic Study Bible). Today, Moses sets before the people a choice which is repeated throughout this book. The choice is really given to myself and each person today and every day of our lives. Will I love and serve God? Will I follow His commandments and His rules and decrees? Or will I disown and reject His laws? Will I then go and follow other ‘gods’ or what I make idols in my life?

In all God’s revelations, He never said that these commandments were optional. Satan throughout the Old Testament and during the Sinai wanderings made it seem that they were optional. Even in the devil’s tempting of Jesus in the desert, he wanted Jesus to compromise by obeying him. This ‘choice’ is weaved throughout the book of Deuteronomy and even into the historical books of Joshua, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. As Moses said, “‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’ For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon Him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?” Throughout each day, I am called upon to choose God; to reject the devil and evil. I am called to love and not hate and do evil. I am called to be Jesus to each person I am with.

James is reminding me and every Christian believer that simply ‘hearing…listening’ to what God says is not enough. I can’t say, ‘Yes, I remember hearing that ‘law’ or ‘rule’ or ‘commandment’ but I do not think that it applies to me. That’s not the intent of any commandment. I must be a DOER…I must live the commandments each and every day. The note in Living the Word, Scripture Reflections and Commentaries for Sundays and Holy Days says, “Purported to have been written by James, (James 1:1) t whom tradition has held as the brother of Jesus (Mark 6:3), the actual authorship is unknown. The ‘letter’ is a moral exhortations (also called a parenesis), and may have been written to counter those who misinterpreted Romans 4: 5-6, which stated that faith alone was necessary.”

In Mark’s gospel today the commandments of God are at the center of controversy. The Pharisees and some Scribes had been purposely sent from Jerusalem to check Jesus out and to report back all that He was teaching. They were no doubt on a ‘fact finding mission’ and it didn’t take long for them to see the ‘fact’ that Jesus’ disciples eat without washing. Now some of the oral traditions outlined how Jews were to wash their hands before eating a meal. This was a lot more intricate than mom’s instructions in washing my hands before eating. As Cycling Through the Gospels states that some of these regulations, “spelled out in detail such things as which direction they should point their fingers when they poured water over them, how much water they should use, and the type of container they should store the water in. Overlooking nothing, the oral traditions even gave an exact step-by-step procedure describing how one hand should wash the other!” Now anyone who did not observe these oral traditions was ritually unclean…something that was nearly impossible for ordinary people to observe. Now these ‘objectors’ to Jesus assumed that a rabbi was responsible for His disciples so why wasn’t Jesus correcting His disciples’ behavior? Jesus calls these questioners “hypocrites”. What is at issue here is God’s commands vs. human tradition. Jesus’ point is that these ‘experts in the law’ are elevating human tradition over the express commands of God. What makes me pure? Is it what is outside or what is inside? Jesus is telling each person to look at the outside and the INSIDE too. The inside is the source of evil intents and anger and hatred, “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, (lewd conduct), envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

Living the Word concludes with a wonderful reflection: “Sometimes it seems as if Jesus is unconcerned with rule-keeping. He sometimes lets go of, and is even harshly critical of, those human rules that He thinks get in the way of focusing on what is essential in our relationship with God. At the same time, He shows great reverence for the Law given to Moses by God. He sees that the purpose of the Law is not to put God at a distance but rather to show that, as Moses says to the Israelites in the book of Deuteronomy, no nation ‘has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon Him.’

What is essential to remember with any religious rule or law is that, unlike civic rules or laws, it is only of ultimate value if it is linked with the proper inner disposition; we cannot honor God with our lips but not in our hearts. Whether I am particularly happy about it or not, what is important about traffic laws is that I obey them. But if I go to Mass or fast or give alms in a grudging fashion, what good does this do me? It leaves untransformed my heart, which is the source of evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, and so forth.

At the same time, our outward actions are important. The Letter of James says that we must be ‘doers of the word and not hearers only,’ because our outward actions affect our inward feelings. Fulfilling our religious obligations, even when we aren’t particularly ‘feeling it,’ can be an important way in which we shape our dispositions. Just as with playing a sport or a musical instrument, the Christian life becomes more enjoyable and fulfilling with practice. So our life in Christ requires a delicate balancing act in which outward behavior is important even though ultimately it is the state of our heart that matters to God.”

So I reflect on:

• Do I look at my spiritual life as something that requires practice?

From Sacred Space 2015:

“This is shocking stuff! Jesus wipes aside mere adherence to the externals rituals of the Law. The Pharisees’ version of religion warped human life and stunted personal growth. Jesus protested against hypocrisy that abandoned the commandments of God in order to cling to ‘human traditions.’

Lord, legalism is a travesty of true religion. You invite me to look to the inside—to the heart of the matter. Free me from putting law before love.”