(Tissot)
"You disregard God's commandments"
Mark 7: 1-8,14-15, 21-23
The Word for Sunday: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/090218.cfm
For most of this past week, without much effort, we have heard
about a great American hero who recently died after a battle with brain
cancer. Senator John McCain was praised
over and over again by past presidents, politicians and members of his own
family on every side of the political spectrum.
Senator McCain’s human integrity and his heroism in war made him a much
admired Senator of this Nation. Many said
in a variety of ways that what made his greatness so tangible was his
dedication to a cause greater than himself.
In light of that truth, which we have seen many times over
history, I could not help but think about the power that true religion has on
our lives. Sadly, some have used this pursuit of a higher cause to turn it
around for evil and destructive purposes.
I think we’ve seen that in the use of religion to justify the
persecution of Jews and Christians over time.
Or maybe the higher cause becomes a slavish obedience to some self-
anointed religious figure or social cause like Communism or a totalitarian
government leader.
Yet, true faith is meant, as St. James states in our second
reading today: “Humbly welcome the word
that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls . . . Religion that
is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and
widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
The faithful following of the higher cause of God’s care for us
in his sacred law and the good news he brings us through his Son should lead us
to become more like the cause we identify.
For us Christians our pursuit is always to be more like Jesus himself. It
was said the John McCain’s suffering over five years in a prison camp made him
greater rather than embittered. It formed him to greatness as a human being and
he was able to identify the value of what is good over the evil he
suffered.
To see our pursuit of God’s law, for example, as given not to
restrict and restrain us from freedom but rather to lead us to a more peaceful
and joyful life. We Americans seem to
have both a love and hate relationship with law. On the one had we resist it and push against
it if we feel is restricts our freedom. And on the other we see it as a great
value that can keep order and respect in society. Law can be seen as opposing my inherent
freedom to choose how I want to live my life or it can be seen as teaching me
to appreciate the greater good we find in one another such as the legal
protection of the
vulnerable and poor among us.
The point of all this is what we see in the Gospel this Sunday.
Jesus once again finds himself at odds with the Pharisees, the religious
leaders of his time among the Jews.
Their slavish demand for obedience to every “jot and tittle” of the law
brings us to see how unrealistic, oppressive, and controlling this law had
become. The point is to discern between
what is necessary and what is incidental.
Their emphasis on dietary and cleanliness as an indication of
inner purity is deeply challenged by Jesus.
He doesn’t speak to the hygienic property of washing ones hands. That’s not the point here. All of these washing rituals had become
equated with religious purity before God and the “keeping of traditions”
created a heavy legalistic culture that
placed human law on a par with divine law.
Human law became the guide and particularly the Pharisees presented
themselves purely on appearance rather than conversion of heart and life. Such guides and examples for the people were
clearly seen as hypocritical by the Prophets and now by Jesus himself.
Jesus quotes Isaiah: “This
people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me . . .” and
then continues in his own words: “You
disregard God’s commandments but cling to human tradition.”
God’s law is given to us in simplicity with two demands: “To
love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and to love our neighbor as
ourselves.” The love of God and neighbor
summarize and, when lived out faithfully in all parts of our life, help to
guard the integrity of the moral and spiritual life. As our physicians take their oath to “do no
harm” so we too are invited not to slavish obedience to a set of rules and
regulations but to seek a relationship with a God who loves us in and through
his own Son. That is what God is seeking
– a relationship of love with us. This
demands that I look within, as Jesus comments in the Gospel about the source of
“evil” or sin and recognize my need for conversion. I could follow all the laws but still miss
the point.
Our nature is good for God has created all things to be
good. But we are flawed and in need of a
way out. Christ has shown us that way
through his death and resurrection. He
didn’t die and rise for our sanitation, as important as that is for the general
health of all of course. But, redemption
is about our spirit; our call to conversion of heart and mind so that we may be
examples of Christ to others.
Jesus hits this by reminding the “holier than thou” leaders
that their obsessive rituals will not bring them closer to God. They need to look within and not on the
outside. My behavior, my values, my
passions and desires, my lack of care for others unselfishly, my thoughts, my
desire for wealth, power, and attention from others, and all those things
related to such is what makes me impure. To see the sin within us and know that
God’s Law, which comes from without us, is there to lead us to a higher level
of moral and spiritual growth. The
service we offer through humility and compassion to others, motivated by our
true religious principles, will indeed bring us closer to our loving God.
So, as Senator McCain was recognized for his integrity by his
service to a cause greater than himself, what God brings us to through love for
Him and for one another, is a relationship that is centered on the true source
of all good. If our lives are in proper
balance – to seek the good and reject the evil; to worship with pure hearts and
good intentions, that greater good of God himself will bring us a life of peace
and order.
As Jesus so eloquently reflected in the Beatitudes from his
sermon on the mount (Mt 5), was the “pure of heart, the merciful, the lowly,
the poor in spirit” are the indication of true goodness and holiness.
May our Eucharist be the food we become, Christ himself.
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Renewed by this bread from the heavenly table,
we beseech you, Lord,
that, being the food of charity,
it may confirm our hearts
and stir us to serve you in our neighbor.
Through Christ our Lord
(Prayer after Communion)
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