It is not one’s rituals and outward holiness that count, it is one’s inner heart and deeds that count

Mark 7: 1–8, 14–15, 21–23

Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.

(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders.

And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles [and beds].)

So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”

He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy 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 as doctrines human precepts.’

You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand.

Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.

All these evils come from within and they defile.”

Music Meditations

Psalm 15—Psalm Project
Open My Eyes Lord
Kyrie Eleison—Chris Tomlin
Those who do Justice Will Live in the Presence of God
Create in Me a Clean Heart, Oh God—Maranatha Singers

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord, help me to love all as myself.

Help me to rest in humility and to find peace in withdrawal from conflict and competition.

Help me to turn aside from controversy and put away heavy loads of judgement and censorship and criticism and the whole burden of opinions I have no obligation to carry.

(Adapted from Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, pp 44-46 excerpted.)

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

When people approached Jesus with sincere questions he gave them a response. He even responded to some Pharisees who seemed to be sincere in their inquiries. For example, when they asked him about divorce (10:2-12). To the rich man, who asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to share in everlasting life?” Jesus responded and engaged the man in a searching reflection (10:17-25).

But today Jesus doesn’t seem as patient or tolerant with the Pharisees and scribes questioning him about his disciples’ lack of ritual cleansing at meals. These religious authorities don’t seem as sincere as others who were searchers and came to Jesus for guidance. The Pharisees were on a mission, and is not just to speculate about religious customs with Jesus.

Mark tells us these critics came from Jerusalem up to Galilee. Jesus was drawing crowds wherever he went in the rural areas among the poor and unlettered; people who didn’t know or practice the niceties the elders of the religious establishment in Jerusalem had decreed were required observances for devout Jews. The stories at this point in Mark show Jesus’ popularity was even spreading to the Gentile population – another threat to the establishment. As if to underline this, the next story in his narrative is about the Canaanite woman, a Gentile who came beseeching Jesus to heal her daughter of an unclean spirit – he does.

The religious authorities in Jerusalem would have liked more order and conformity to the tradition of the elders. Mark seems to be writing for a wider audience, non-Jews, because he takes some time to explain what those religious rules were. Jesus accuses the Pharisees and scribes of being more concerned with ceremonial regulation, “the tradition of the elders,” than with the Commandments of God. Unlike other, more sincere seekers, these legalists were trying to paint Jesus as a breaker of the religious laws. They are on the attack, as they will continue to be throughout this gospel.

Jesus, on the other hand, bypasses their question about handwashing and goes to the heart of the issue: those who are challenging him are holding onto “human tradition,” but should have been spending more time and energy teaching the deeper requirements of love, compassion and justice which God requires. He quotes Isaiah, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Today’s selection skips over verses 9-13. It’s a shame, because they refer to the Corban doctrine. That teaching of some rabbis undermined children’s requirements to care for their parents, while the Commandments require children to honor their parents (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16). It is not certain how often the Corban exemption was actually practiced, but Jesus shows the cruelty that can be tolerated in the very tradition the Pharisees were defending. Is it possible that some of our religious practices are performed out of habit because “we have always done it this way,” but no longer address the values for which they were originally designed to protect or instill in us?

The washing of hands and eating utensils is a current concern for people of our time and especially in our culture. During flu season we carry tiny bottles of Purex in our pockets or purses to kill germs on our hands when we are about to eat outside our homes. Some parishes have an antibacterial liquid on the side credence table in the sanctuary so the priest and Eucharistic ministers can cleanse their hands before distributing the Eucharistic bread and cup. Obviously, Jesus wasn’t talking about proper sanitary procedures for eating and drinking, but with the preoccupation with ritual that overrides the spirit of God’s law.

He gathers the crowd again to spell it out for them. It’s not what we eat or drink that defiles us, but what comes out of a person. Food, we are reminded these days, can have deleterious effects on the body. It can injure the heart – too much salt, fat or sugar in the diet. But obviously Jesus isn’t talking about some physical foods’ and their bad effects on our physical heart. He’s naming the effects that come out of our spiritual hearts; evil behavior is produced by evil hearts. If we follow all the rules according to the letter of the law we might feel quite satisfied with ourselves and are tempted to think we had gotten ourselves right with God – after all, we did everything properly.

But, while decorum and dignified ritual are part of our religious practice, God is more concerned with a deeper cleansing and purifying. If our hearts can be purified, the prayer and behavior that flow from them will be exactly what God has in mind for us. If we act out of the intentions of good hearts we will know how to behave, even if we don’t know the exact rule for this or that situation.

Today’s gospel passage is a reminder that some good traditions are helpful guides for our behavior. We were taught them as children and are guided by them still: going to church on Sunday; grace before meals; family prayers; a rosary in our pocket; daily Scripture reading; a lighted candle before an icon at home; bread blessings on feast days of patronal saints, etc. Some many good, prayerful customs, done over and over seep into our hearts and are life-giving. The fruits of a good heart are good deeds done instinctively each day.

Jesus gives a pretty good list of behavior that flows from hearts that are “defiled.” The “Anchor Bible Commentary” on Mark notes that examples of lists of vices were common in Greek literature. Concerning this passage it says, “The nouns which follow – twelve in all – contain six plural examples, indicating evil actions, and six singular, describing generic vices” (page 317). In other words, this is a thorough list and it would have been a useful guide to the early community for whom Mark was writing.

Jesus puts priority on human relationships and has shown them to be sacred. That’s where we turn to law and tradition, to lists of vices and virtues, to guide us how to live well together in community. He wasn’t teaching us to disregard human laws and traditions. Instead, his focus is less on the external rules and more on internal realities.

The gospel challenges us to look to our heart where our true identity lies. Some people practice exquisite etiquette and proper speech, but in their hearts a good number of Jesus’ list of vices have taken root. It’s not just that they deceive others, but they have deceived themselves as well. We need to develop our consciences according to the spirit of Jesus; to find ways to name the evils that reside in our heart under the guise of self-interest, family values, patriotism, and, according to today’s gospel, religious practices.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

The disciples were no very sophisticated religiously, and they probably did not observe too carefully all of the 613 precepts that the Pharisees did. Did that make them “bad” Jews?
Did the observation of those 613 precepts make the Pharisees better than others?
Do we sometimes judge people on their outward piety, or lack of it?
How do people honor God with their lips, but have hearts afar from God (Isaiah)?
Where, as a church, have our priorities for kindness and charity to others sometimes been misplaced by emphasis on dress, posture, correctness?
In our culture, what kinds of people do we admire?
What defines a “good person”?
Were the Pharisees good people?
What does it mean to “walk humbly with the Lord”? (Micah 6)
What does it mean to do justice?
How important is justice in the priorities of our civil leaders? Our spiritual Leaders? Our cultural heroes? Our own lives?
How is the heart a symbol for our soul?
Can you say you love God and harbor dislike or contempt for someone in your heart?
What “good things” can come out of us?
What “bad things” can?
From “First Impressions 2003”:
Have some of my religious practices become rote, more the force of habit than anything else?
From Invitation to Mark, by Rev Paul Achtemeier:
Do we run into any danger of allowing religious rules to get in the way of doing God’s will?
Am I so worried about being “correct” in my prayers that they sometimes lack honesty?
Am I so concerned about the correctness of a religious experience that I sometimes miss the experience itself?
What religious practices of other people bother me?
Do I tend to judge others on their piety, or lack thereof?
What is spiritual arrogance?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Pharisees have not been well regarded by Christianity as a whole, but the fact is, they were very religious people. God really was the center of their lives. These were, in the main, good people. The problem occurred because they thought they knew God better than anyone else and proceeded to judge others and exclude others according to their own religious standards. Spiritual arrogance was a failing of theirs, and is a problem for many of us, whether we realize it or not. Have I been confidently smug about my relationship with God because I appear to be a good person, and observe all the correct rituals? I reflect on a time when I have been judgmental about another person who made a decision or engaged in a practice that I thought was misguided or just plain wrong. Have I ever made a judgement about someone only to realize later that I did not get the story straight? Did I share my judgement with others and injure this person’s reputation? Have I been the “rules police” for others in my local church community? Have I ever honored God with my lips, while my heart was far away?

Adapted from: Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford, by Anne Marchand Greenfield

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Consideration:

In New Seeds of Contemplation Thomas Merton said:

And now I am thinking of the disease which is spiritual pride. I am thinking of the particular unreality that gets into the hearts of saints and eats their sanctity away before it is mature. There is something of this worm in the hearts of all religious [people]. As soon as they have done something which they know to be good in the eyes of God, they tend to take its reality unto themselves and make it their own. They tend to destroy their virtues by claiming them for themselves and clothing their own private illusion of themselves with values that belong to God. Who can escape the desire to breathe a different atmosphere from the rest of [humanity]? (p. 49) The saints are what they are not because their sanctity makes them admirable to others, but because the gift of sainthood makes it possible for them to admire everybody else (p.57).

I consider the gifts I have been given, and reflect on how they have shaped my life and my relationships for the better. I speak to God about those particular gifts, being careful to recognize God as the author and giver of those same gifts. In this exercise of thanksgiving, I am particularly careful to avoid smugness and to avoid comparing myself to others. I also consider the qualities I possess which are sometimes less than admirable. How have those shaped me as well? I thank God for the lessons I have learned from the mistakes I have made and the lessons I have learned by confronting selfish tendencies I have worked to overcome. I remind myself that I am a work in progress and thank God for the patience and understanding shown me.

Adapted from: Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford, by Anne Marchand Greenfield

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship

Pray this Litany every day this week:

“Litany of Humility”

Author: Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val y Zulueta

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, O Jesus. From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, O Jesus. That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be praised and I go unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Poetic Reflection:

What does the poem by Father Ed Ingebretzen, S.J. tell us about our attempts to love as Jesus loves?

“Lonely Christ”

Lonely Christ
I pray to you.
You are a puzzle to me
as those I love
always are.

My soul is at odds
with the words.
What mad reach of mine
touches any thread of you?
Or what of mine, arms or eyes,
ever shares with people
where they may lie—
as they always do—
in a hard place!

What of mine shall make good
their taking of a breath,
their rising, caring, feeding
their sleeping in fear—
what shall make good
their slight faith,
their enormous promises
made in iron
for a child, man, a woman—

what of mine shall be with the people
as they caress a special grief
fondled again and again
In bludgeoned love?

What do I bring
with which to clutch
the merest hint of your shadow?

Closing Prayer

Keep us, O God, from all pettiness.
Let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.
Let us be done with fault-finding and leave off all self-seeking.
May we put away all pretense and meet each other face-to-face,
Without self pity and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgment, always generous.
Let us take time for all things, and make us grow calm, serene, and gentle.
Teach us to put into action our better impulses, to be straight-forward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize that it is the little things of life that create differences,
That in the big things of life we are one.
And, Lord, God, let us not forget to be Kind.

Prayer of Mary, Queen of Scots

Weekly Reflections

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 1, 2024