HOMILY 22ND SUNDAY YEAR B
“MORE RITUALISTIC THAN BEING TRUE”
HOMILY ANECDOTE
Ritual washing using drinking-water: William Barclay in the ‘daily study bible’ tells the story of an old Jewish rabbi in the Roman prison diagnosed with acute dehydration which would have led to his death. The prison guards insisted that the rabbi had been given his quota of drinking water. So the prison doctor and the officer in charge instructed the guards to watch the rabbi and ascertain what he was doing with his ration of water. They were shocked to find that the rabbi was using almost all his water for traditional ritual washing before prayer and meals: pure traditional-addiction which puts Jesus at loggerhead with the Pharisees and the Scribes in today’s reading.
Meanwhile, there is no doubt that Jesus will be much more disappointed today to see that his followers are more hypocritical than the Pharisees and the Scribes. I am a hypocrite, you are a hypocrite and we are all hypocrites when we suffocate the word of God in our heart by living a ‘Christianity of theatre’; external observance of the Law. And the question would be; what exactly is in our hearts? We hope that when looking at us Jesus would not complain, “This people pay me lip service, but their hearts is far from me” (Mk 7:6). We are meant to understand from the readings of today what true religion is. It is not simply the scrupulous external observance of rules, laws, traditions and rituals. It is has to do with a loving, obedient relationship with God expressed in a concrete way by recognizing His presence in our brothers and sisters especially the most needy, and rendering them loving and humble service. However, Prayers, rituals, Sacraments and religious practices only help us to practice this true religion in our daily lives.
FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 4:1-2.6-8
The history of the chosen people of God reveals that in the fifth century before the coming of Christ, internal corruption and some external pressures had brought the Israelites to the edge of extinction with their kings, priests, prophets and Temple unable at this time to hold them together. The book of Deuteronomy which presents the Babylonian exile that spanned between 587-539 pre-messianic era, labelled the ancient legal traditions surrounding the Law which had been given Israel by the Lord God through Moses. In this book, Moses explained succintly the beauty of the Law and strictly commanded its observance as Israel’s sign of gratitude for the Lord God’s promise of the land. He further assured the people that the Law given to them by the Lord their God and their corresponding faithful observance of it would serve three purposes: 1. It will help them to survive as a people; 2. It will make them to be proud of their God and His Covenant; and 3. It will make nations around them marvel at the graciousness and justice of the God of Israel, at His closeness to His people and at their closeness to Him. That is why today Moses challenged the Israelites with the questions: What great nation is there that has its god so near as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? What other great nation has statutes and ordinances as righteous as this entire law that I am setting before you today? And he cited the praise they would receive from neighboring nations as an additional reason for keeping the Law: This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.
What exactly is the Law of the Lord all about, and for what purpose? God is a loving and faithful Father who showed himself so close to his people by leading them with his own right hand. He also desired that his people be close to him by recognising him as their only God through the service of obedience in order that they may possess the promised land. This desire of bilateral closeness brought about the idea of establishing a covenant as a binding force of God-people relationship. Consequently the gift of the Law came as guiding principle of the covenant and the pledge of the faithfulness of the people to their God as well as a source of blessing as long as they are observed as instructed by Him.
Message:
The Law of the Lord is whole, complete needing no addition. It is neither burdensome to us that it has to undergo some sort of review or subtraction to suit our capacity. It is not like human laws and constitutions that sometimes arbitrary, burdensome and unjust.There is no shortcut to living the Law of the Lord, and we cannot pretend ignorant of it because it is written in bold letters on tablet of our hearts. It is not meant to be adapted situationally to suit us because it is intrnsically complete and just. Why do we then sometimes pretend as if we do not know it? Why do we live contrary to it? All of us are guilty of infidelity to the Law of the Lord. What exactly is the problem? We need to know that the only secret of keeping the Law of the Lord is by relying wholly on the strength that comes from him because our human, canal strength is insufficient to live it. In other words, we need the Lord in order to live the commandments of the Lord. We must know that God did not give us the commandments for his own selfish interest nor for his own benefit. The commandments are purposefully designed for our good. And it is by keeping them that we realize our full being, that is, being one with God. It is by observing them that we become “great nation” and attract God not just close to us but who equally will answer us whenever we call upon him: ” For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?” (Deut. 4: 7). The observance of the commandments that is required of us is not a sort of conditioned, mechanical and ritualistic approach but must spring from the heart. Hence, what is in our heart?
SECOND READING: James 1:17-18.21b-22.27
Today we begin a series of five Sunday readings from the letter of James. In the letter, James addresses the whole Christian Church in general, rather than speaking just to a particular community or person as Paul did in his letters. After dealing with the value of trials and temptations and refuting the argument that temptations come from God (James 1:2-18), James provides the only formal definition of religion in the Bible. He defines true religion as translating the love of God into deeds of loving kindness toward the vulnerable members of the community and putting into practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. More specifically, true religion would mean rendering a loving care for orphans and widows, all those who suffer afflictions and to keep oneself far from being stained by the world.
Message:
The pastoral language used by James is; “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves’. It is obvious that James observed a sort of incoherence in the life of the members of his community. He observed a gap between hearing the word and living the word. And he spoke to their conscience today as a reminder that a true religious person is one who hears the word and acts on it. Each one of us belongs to the community of which James is addressing today when we notice lapses in our Christian life. The degenerated nature of Christianity and the growing ills in the society shows that there is something wrong with those who are called to be followers of Christ. The word of God reminds us today to sit up in our Christian life and conduct by living a consistent life, a life that agrees with the word of God we hear.
GOSPEL: Mark 7:1-8.14-15.21-23
The context:
Just as Jesus and his disciples were reforming Judaism by transforming it into Christianity, the Pharisees had begun reforming Judaism at an earlier period. They considered the “Written Law” or Torah or the Law of Moses (the first five books of the Bible), and the “Oral Law” (clarifications and additions to the Mosaic Law given by scribes before the messianic era), as equally holy and binding. These oral laws, known in Jesus’ time as the “Traditions of the Elders,” were a series of oral traditions intended to act as “a fence around the Law,” so that the Mosaic Law itself, and, thus, the Covenant, would never be violated. The original, noble intention of the scribes who formulated these traditions and of the Pharisees who practiced them was to have their religion permeate all Israel, purifying the people in their daily lives, making them holy as their God is holy. In spite of these noble intentions, however, by the time of Jesus, their religion had degenerated, being reduced to only the exact performance of external rituals. Small wonder, then, that the scribes and Pharisees were scandalized by the revolutionary teaching of Jesus, by the unique Divine and Messianic claims made by him and by his violations of the “Traditions of the Elders”!
The ritual washing which the Pharisees frowned at Jesus and his disciples today was actually required of the priest. There was nothing in the Mosaic Law that required the same behavior from lay people. Pious Jews began to adopt that habit on the principle of Exodus 19:6 — “you are a priestly kingdom and a holy nation,” and gradually it became the “the tradition of the elders.” The ritual cleansing of raw food items bought from the market, of vessels used for cooking and of the hands of those who were to eat the prepared food, like many similar practices, evolved later, to remind the Chosen People of their call to be set apart as a holy and consecrated people, with values and life-style consciously different from those of pagans. But in Jesus’ day, the Jews ignored the spirit of these traditions and practiced them simply as an essential judicial and ritual requisite. The question of Why do your disciples not wash their hands before eating persisted. It created tensions in the early Church, particularly in the Christian community of Mark where some of the new Christians were Jews and some were Gentiles. The Gentiles did not follow the Jewish customs, and, consequently, some of the Jewish Christians were upset. (Fr. Anthony Kadavil).
Jesus’ response to the Sanhedrin’s public criticism, stands on the prophetic tradition when he cited Isaiah 29:13, where the prophet castigates the tendency to “teach mere human precepts as dogmas.” This people pays Me lip-service but their heart is far from Me. Empty is the reverence they do Me, because they teach as dogmas mere human precepts. The Pharisees placed emphasis, not on building a relationship with God and their fellow-human beings, but on checking out their own external behavior. Originally these religious traditions were intended to symbolize inner realities — outward signs of inward devotion to God’s Will. But the Pharisees were using them to boost their own egos. Hence, Jesus flatly denied that external things or circumstances could separate a person from God. Jesus was not criticizing rituals given in the Mosaic Law, but the giving of disproportionate importance to these things while neglecting what was far more important, the love of God and the care for one’s fellow-human beings. Here was the whole issue. They were substituting traditions of men for the law of God. A tradition may actually be good and may be established for a very good reason. However, it becomes evil when it is a substitute for the law of God in later generations. And this is where the annoyance and reaction of Jesus stemmed from. Jesus gave little importance to the external and ritualistic tradition of washing before eating to what is more important, that is, the ‘washing of the heart’. He makes it clear that what defiles man comes from within, evil thoughts such as; fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. Such is the catalogue of sins coming from Christ Himself. There are total of twelve sins enumerated by Jesus, sign of completeness and fullness. It suggests that nothing is lacking. We will therefore be judged without any excuse. (Fr. Anthony Kadavil).
LIFE MESSAGE
Christian life is an affair of the heart. The external gestures must be a expression of the love that springs from the heart, if not, it becomes pure hypocrisy. And from our lived experience, christianity today has degenerated into ‘theatrical show’. Everybody claims to be a believer but obviously only few are true followers of Christ. Many people think that by performing their religious duty, they already have the guarantee for heaven. Many wealth-oriented ministers today try to generate such kind of sentiments in the minds of their congregation like paying of tithes and other practices. Unfortunately we are missing the target because going to church, saying prayers, reading the Bible and giving charity do not in themselves guarantee holiness if our heart is closed and unable to love. And it is obvious that the heart of man does not appreciate much the enumeration of the vices made by Jesus. They puncture the heart and remind man about his numerous infidelities. Jesus challenges us today by reminding us of what is more important that is, avoiding of vices. By pointing at those vices, he equally tells each one of us that we are all undeniably guilty in one way or the other. Now that our sins have been laid bare, what are we expected to do? Do we still wish to fold our hands as if we do not know the consequences? Let us pause awhile over the list of vices enumerated by Jesus today and ask ourselves some fundamental questions: where are we guilty? Which of them touch us the most? What must we do? If we have become a slave to any that it appears almost impossible to liberate ourselves, Jesus is ready to help us to begin a new journey today. So as we receive Him in the Word and in the Eucharist, let us truly welcome him in our hearts and allow Him to dispel the vices that have enveloped our consciences and sense of judgment of good and bad. Let us ask him for the grace to live according to the will of the Father as He Himself does.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father we come before you with all our being. We acknowledge you to be the source and origin or what we are and what we have. Grant that we may open our hearts totally to You as You fill us with the grace of your presence. May we never price anything above You. Who live and reign with the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.
PAX VOBIS!
