22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dt 4: 1-2, 6-8; Jer. 1: 17-18, 21-22, 27;
Mk. 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21.23
The people of Jesus' time lived in perilous times of persecution, which traditions had helped them survive. But they had focused so much on the minute rules which had gradually been added over the centuries to explain God's Law that they had lost sight of what the Law was for. Instead, it had become an end in itself.
Jesus didn't reject tradition; in fact, He was steeped in it. But the kind of tradition which is good and healthy for Him was when people worshipped God with sincerity, in their hearts, in the way they lived, and not just with prayer and external ritual. Prayer and worship are useless if they are disconnected from the rest of life, and that's just what had happened with the Pharisees - they did things because they'd always been done that way; laws became more important than people and religion became rule-keeping worshipping God in the right way, saying the right prayers, mixing with the right people, eating the right food, e.g. a plate with a rim could become unclean, while a rimless plate was all right. And so they complained when Jesus' disciples ate with unwashed hands. This custom had begun from prescriptions concerning ritual purity for religious rites and service in the Temple, but had gradually crept into the washing of everyday things, and the people themselves, so that they had to wash between each course of a meal; likewise, tombs would pollute those who inadvertently trod on them, so the Pharisees whitewashed them to make them more obvious and, incidentally make them look good, forgetting about the corruption going on inside the tomb. It was all about outward observance.
What contaminates us? St. James says that true religion is "coming to the help of widows and orphans . . and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world." Jesus mentions a whole host Of "evil intentions" - fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride." All sins against our neighbour, all ways of harming, manipulating, using or deceiving others. So simply worshipping in the right church, observing holy days and fasting, won't make us worthy in God's sight on their own. A healthy relationship with God will be founded on treating others with respect, kindness, consideration, compassion and love. Our faith has to be founded and grounded on daily reality and looking outwards to my neighbour.
Where does that leave me? Do I really live an authentic Christian life; does God's word challenge my way of thinking and acting? Am I what I profess to be, or simply an empty shell . a "gong booming, or a cymbal clashing," as St. Paul puts it? God calls us to bring our interior lives into line with our actions, to be honest both with ourselves and Him. So .. am I a hypocrite, or do I love my neighbour, made in God's image as I am, as much as I love Him?