GOSPEL READING:
Mark 7:1-131 Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?" 6 And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.' 8 You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men." 9 And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, `Honor your father and your mother'; and, `He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die'; 11 but you say, `If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban' (that is, given to God) - 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do."
Meditation: What makes a person unclean or unfit to offer
God acceptable worship? The Jews went to great pains to ensure
that their worship would conform to the instructions which God
gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. God's call to his people was a call
to holiness: "be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2). In
their zeal for holiness many elders developed elaborate traditions
which became a burden for the people to carry out in their
everyday lives. The Scribes and Pharisees were upset with Jesus
because he allowed his disciples to break with their ritual
traditions by eating with unclean hands. They sent a delegation
all the way from Jerusalem to Galilee to bring their accusation in
a face-to-face confrontation with Jesus.
God's law teaches us how to love God and neighbor in holiness and truth
Jesus dealt with their accusation by going to the heart of the
matter - by looking at God's intention and purpose for the
commandments. Jesus gave an example of how their use of ritual
tradition excused them from fulfilling the commandment to honor
one's father and mother. If someone wanted to avoid the duty of
financially providing for their parents in old age or sickness
they could say that their money or goods were an offering "given
over to God" and thus exempt from any claim of charity or duty to
help others. They broke God's law to fulfill a law of their own
making. Jesus explained that they void God's command because they
allowed their hearts and minds to be clouded by their own notions
of religion.
Allow God's word to purify your thoughts, intentions, and
actions
Jesus accused them specifically of two things. First of
hypocrisy. Like actors, who put on a show, they appear to obey
God's word in their external practices while they inwardly harbor
evil desires and intentions. Secondly, he accused them of
abandoning God's word by substituting their own arguments and
ingenious interpretations for what God requires. They listened to
clever arguments rather than to God's word. Jesus refers them to
the prophecy of Isaiah (29:31) where the prophet accuses the
people of his day for honoring God with their lips while their
hearts went astray because of disobedience to God's laws.
If we listen to God's word with faith and reverence, it will both
enlighten our mind and purify our heart - thus enabling us to
better understand how he wants us to love and obey him. The Lord
invites us to draw near to him and to feast at his banquet table.
Do you approach with a clean heart and mind? Ask the Lord to
cleanse and renew you with the purifying fire of his Holy Spirit.
Lord Jesus, let the fire of your Holy Spirit cleanse my mind and my heart that I may love you purely and serve you worthily.
Psalm 84:1-5, 9-10
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are the men whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
9 Behold our shield, O God; look upon the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Mammon refuses to provide for parents in old age, by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD)
"Christ says, 'Care for the poor' (Matthew 19:21; Mark
10:21; Luke 14:13); Mammon says, 'Take away even those
things the poor possess.' Christ says, 'Empty yourself of what you
have' (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23);
Mammon says, 'Take also what they possess.' Do you see the
opposition, the strife between them? See how it is that one cannot
obey both, but must reject one?... Christ says, 'None of you can
become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions' (Luke
14:33); Mammon says, 'Take the bread from the hungry.'
Christ says, 'Cover the naked' (Matthew 25:34-40; Isaiah
58:7); the other says, 'Strip the naked.' Christ says,
'You shall not turn away from your own family (Isaiah
58:7), and those of your own house' (1 Timothy
5:8; Galatians 6:10); Mammon says, 'You shall not show
mercy to those of your own family. Though you see your mother or
your father in want, despise them' (Mark 7:11)." (excerpt
from HOMILIES ON PHILIPPIANS 6.25)
