Sunday, September 01, 2024, is the twenty-second Sunday in ordinary time, year B. In the Entrance Antiphon, we pray: “I call to you all day long, have mercy on me, O Lord. You are good and forgiving, full of love for all who call to you. Amen.”
In the first reading from Deuteronomy, we hear that God’s precepts are not supposed to be a burden on us but rather help that guides and protects us. God’s commandments lead to true freedom and wisdom. In the second reading, Saint James tells us that God’s word abides forever, for it is perfect and contains the highest wisdom and truth and must therefore be translated into concrete action of love of neighbor. In the Gospel, Saint Mark reveals a controversy between Jesus and the Jewish authorities over external rituals involving food, which the Jews hold highly. Still, Christ thinks they are not of much importance for our salvation. The Jews put aside God’s commandments and Christ warns that clinging to human traditions reduces our religion to mere externals. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace to accept Jesus Christ, who is interested more in our heart and soul than in external rites and rituals made by man.
First Reading: Deuteronomy 4: 1-2; 6-8.
Moses said to the people: “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and ordinances that 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. In your observance of the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it. Observe them diligently, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “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?
Comment
The first five books of the Bible form a unit known collectively as the Pentateuch (from the Greek word for five books), or as the Torah (the Hebrew word for the Law). The first of these books is Genesis, which deals with the origin of the world, of mankind and of the people of Israel; the second is Exodus, which gives an account of the escape of the Jewish people from Egypt and how they wandered about in the desert for forty years; the third is Leviticus, which gives the list of the laws of the priests of the tribe of Levi; the fourth is Numbers, which gives a list of the tribes of Israel that left Egypt; and the fifth is Deuteronomy, from where the reading of this is taken. It is the second Law laid down by Moses before the Israelites entered the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy recounts the main events at the end of the forty years the Israelites spent wandering in the desert under the leadership of Moses. The people of Israel prepare to embark on the conquest of the land the Lord has given them, and Moses gives them his farewell speech containing his last will because God will not allow him to enter the Promised Land. That task is given to Joshua, his commander in chief, as we saw in the first reading of last Sunday.
In the early chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses recalls the main events of Israel’s journey from Egypt and reminds his people of God’s special kindness to them. He stresses the privileged position God has given them by making them his chosen people. There is no other people to whom God is as near and accessible as he is to the Jewish people. Moses therefore urges them to show their gratitude to God by obeying the Law he gave them at Mount Sinai. He further tells them that the very life of Israel, if shaped by obedience to God’s Law, will serve as an eloquent lesson for all other nations.
What lesson am I taking home from this passage? I learn from it that God’s message is not sent only to his chosen people of Israel. It extends beyond them to the other nations as well. It therefore carries a universal message of hope and freedom for all mankind. This is a message Christ will extend to the whole world when he sends his disciples to go to the whole of creation, preaching the good news and baptizing the converted in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mt 28: 19). As Pope Francis says, we too are baptized and sent, as Christ’s messengers, to carry the same message of hope to all our brothers and sisters, beginning in our own immediate family.
This passage challenges me to show gratitude to God, who is full of mercy and compassion and who always opens the door to his heart to me when I come knocking and listens to me when I come calling. With Saint Augustine, I pray: “Come to my assistance, O God, the one eternal, true reality! In You there is no strife, no disorder, no change, no need, no death, but supreme harmony, supreme clarity, supreme permanence, supreme life. Through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen.”
Second Reading: James 1: 17-18. 21-22. 27.
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose, he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.
Comment
Saint James addresses his Letter to the “twelve tribes in the dispersion,” that is, to the Jews living outside the Holy Land. However, the early Christians too came to think of themselves as the New Israel which had, in Christ, inherited all the promises that God had made to his people. The reference to the “twelve tribes in the dispersion” therefore fits Christian churches scattered outside the Holy Land.
The author of this letter identifies himself as “James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”. Church historians believe that this is James, who is usually referred to as the “brother” of the Lord who, after the resurrection was the leading figure in the Church of Jerusalem (1 Cor 15:7). After Saint Peter moved to Rome, this James stayed behind and later assumed the position of bishop of Jerusalem. He is thought to be the same person as the James, son of Alphaeus, listed in the Gospel as an Apostle (Mt 10: 3; Mk 3: 18).
In this day’s passage, Saint James clearly states God’s absolute unchangeable desire for good and the goodness of all creation. The major principle of this letter is that the acceptance of the Gospel means submission to it in our conduct. Our message of truth as Christians must translate itself into acts of charity and love of God and neighbor. Faith makes moral demands on us. Our proper respect and love of God must show in works of charity to the needy. We must rid ourselves of every obstacle that may stand on our way as we do God’s work.
Our faith must be rooted in love, or else it is a dead faith. We must not only listen docilely to the Gospel, we must listen, then go out and put it into practice. The Gospel calls on us to be charitable and not let ourselves be stained by worldly ambitions.
Saint James mentions widows and orphans, a class of the marginalized that has always received special attention in the Old Testament. For example, Deuteronomy 27: 19 clearly states that anyone who violates the rights of orphans and widows is cursed. The Church includes concern for the widows and orphans in the works of mercy, which the Lord will take into account at the Last Judgment (Mt 25: 31-46).
As we reflect on Saint James’ words this day, let us pray for widows, orphans, and the marginalized, especially the refugees from this senseless war in the northwest and southwest regions of our country living in the city of Douala:
“Heavenly Father, You are the defender of the widow, the father to the orphan, and the refuge for the marginalized, especially those who have fled war and other acts of violence from their homes. Wrap them in Your love and protect them in their vulnerability. Grant them strength, comfort, and hope in their trials. May they always feel Your presence and receive the care they need through the compassion of others. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia. The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth, that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Alleluia.”
Gospel: Mark 7: 1-8. 14-15. 21-23.
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly 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 human precepts as doctrines.’ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Comment
In the Gospel, Saint Mark raises another controversy between Jesus and the Pharisees. This time it concerns food and eating. The Pharisees and Scribes complain that Christ’s disciples are eating without first washing their hands. They want to know why Jesus permits his disciples to violate the unwritten tradition of the elders. The purification they ask for is not simply for hygienic reasons. Such rituals also had religious significance, symbolizing the moral purity needed to approach God. In Exodus 30: 17ff, the Law of God laid down how priests should wash before offering sacrifice.
By the time of Jesus, Jewish tradition had extended this ritual to all Jews before every meal, to give meals a religious significance. Ritual purification was a symbol of the moral purity a person should have when approaching God. This is clearly expressed in Psalm 24, which was part of the liturgical rite of entry to the Jerusalem sanctuary. In it, the Psalmist asks: “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” Purity of heart appears as a condition for approaching God, taking part in his worship, and being able to behold his face. But the Pharisees went far beyond the purely external level and even added to the intricacy of the rites while neglecting their fundamental aspect, that is, cleanness of heart.
That is why Christ reacts so strongly against what he calls hypocrites who leave the commandments of God and cling to the traditions of men. Clean hands, Christ tells them, have to begin with a clean heart because it is from the heart that come evil thoughts, wickedness, deceits, etc. All of our acts begin in the heart and if the heart is unclean, then the entire person is unclean. The purity of the soul that our Lord is asking his followers is far from being simply a matter of appearances. We should not wash our hands and plates and leave our hearts unclean, that is full of wickedness and lack of love.
By clinging to tradition, the Jewish authorities ignore the commandment of God. Jesus wants to free people from the weight of a stifling tradition that concentrates on approved performances. When religious performance does not come from the heart, Christ tells them, it makes for worthless worship.
Jesus then preaches to the crowd a revolutionary doctrine that puts him at odds with his religious tradition: nothing a man eats can defile him, only what comes from his own heart. In this, Jesus declares all food clean. Uncleanness is a matter of what proceeds from the human heart. It’s not a people’s diet that Christ is interested in, but rather it is the condition of their heart.
He is interested in the stirrings of the human heart, the personal issues that preoccupy us and influence our choices and behavior. The complex emotions and desires of the heart are what hold Christ’s attention. He knows that no external law can change people’s hearts, even if it forces them to conform socially. That is why when he begins his public ministry, he invites everyone to set their hearts first on the kingdom of God. He believes that when people’s hearts are centered on God, they are freed from the litany of human rules and regulations that try to control their every move. His is the word that frees us from the world of endless rules and regulations. It challenges us and invites us to live a religion of the heart.
Let us, brothers and sisters, not be like the Jewish authorities who show blind obedience to the Law as far as it serves their interests while ignoring the very heart of the law, which calls for love of God and neighbor. Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God, a new world where God’s will has top priority. God’s law is oriented to the welfare and well-being of man, to his happiness and salvation.
Jesus wants to free religion from the observance of mere externals. It is not also rare in our Churches to hear people condemning others because they think they are not doing what should be done in Church. For example, we often hear some Christians grumbling because someone is not standing when they should, or not kneeling when everyone is expected to kneel. There can be physical reasons that prevent someone from kneeling or from standing; but, to some of us, such an individual is sinning. What intolerance!
Religion should arise from the heart. Jesus wants to free us from the heavy load of laws that hinder us from observing God’s law. Forcing people to stand, sit, or kneel in Church when they don’t feel like it is tantamount to imposing external rites on them that are not any different from what the Pharisees and Scribes are doing in this Gospel.
Religion must be manifested in loving those in need, which is the heart of the Christian religion. So let us ask ourselves wherein our priority lies: in man-made traditions or God-given laws. Jesus is clear on this: “You put aside the commandments of God and cling to human traditions”. This Gospel message challenges me to examine my conscience and see whether my heart is in tune with God’s will, or am I just bowing to human rituals.
With Saint Augustine again I pray: “Lord, inspire me with love, that I may teach sweetness. Give me patience, that I may teach discipline. Enlighten my understanding that I may teach wisdom. Through Christ the risen Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen.”
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