Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) [Mk7:1-8.14-15.21-23]
29.08.2021
Tradition
of the Elders and True Defilement
1. Theme in
brief
The
religion of the heart versus lip-service
2. Focus
Statement:
The essence
of true religion is not mere observation of rituals and traditions but service
to the neighbour, and the roots of all evil are in human heart, not in the
body.
3. Explanation of the text
Today’s
gospel presents Jesus’ views on inner purity of heart in contrast to the outer purity of
ritual cleanliness of the Jews. The text begins with the criticism or
accusation levelled by the Pharisees and scribes from
Besides
the laws of the OT, the good Jews were expected to observe all the rules and
regulations formulated by the scribes regarding every possible situation in
life called “tradition of the elders.” One of those rules was about not eating with
unwashed or ‘defiled’ hands (7:2). This rule was made and observed not
out of hygienic consideration to prevent people from eating with dirty hands.
It was a ritual or ceremonial washing to get rid of all defilement from outsiders.
When the pious Jews returned from market they had to clean themselves and everything
else brought from there (7:4) to get rid of the contamination
acquired by the touch of unclean Gentiles. The same ritual washing applied to
vessels (7:4). This ritual reminded the Jews that they were ‘special’ people set apart for
God and separated from others who were ‘unclean.’ Since
the disciples of Jesus were not observing this ritual washing, the critics
understood that they had not set themselves
apart for God.
Referring
to Prophet Isaiah (Is 29:13), Jesus stated that God wanted not mere lip-service
but heart-service (7:6). He called their traditions merely “human precepts”
or "human tradition” and not really religious “doctrines” or "the
commandments of God" (7:7-8). Whereas for the scribes and Pharisees these
traditions were the essence of religion, for Jesus inner purity
was the essence. They believed that meticulous observation of the minutest
rules handed down by elders put them in God’s good books, and breaking them was
sin. In fact, they were imposing human teaching or words as God’s Word or
doctrine (7:7), and abandoning more serious commandments of God. They had
substituted human teaching for divine
teaching (7:8). He called them “hypocrites” (7:6),
because this word was used for actors in a drama whose actual self was hidden
behind a mask. Like actors they were pretenders who appeared to be other than who they really
were.
The
scribes had done enough home-work to explain in minute details the Mosaic Law
that forbids consumption of certain foods as ‘unclean’. According to Jesus, not
only the tradition of the elders but also any distinction between ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ food was
irrelevant for true religion. He declared the classification of clean and unclean
food in the Law of Moses null and void. For him all foods were clean (7:19). It
was not the so-called ‘unclean’ food that went into people’s stomachs which defiled
them but what came out of the depth of their hearts (7:15, 18-20). In other words, according to him,
it was not the food that people ate without ceremonial washing that made them
unclean, but the evil thoughts and feelings that came out of their hearts.
At
the end, Jesus went on to list the things that came out of people’s polluted
minds or hearts that made them unclean. The evil
intentions coming out of the
heart (many of them derived from the Ten Commandments) can be understood as:
sexual abuses, dishonesty and deceitfulness, anti-life deeds, coveting to
possess what others have, nursing an evil desire to inflict harm on others, cunningness,
wickedness, envying with an evil eye, pride that considers oneself better than
others, etc. (7:22). He announced that holiness came
from within (from the heart) and not from outside, especially by observing
rules.
4. Application to life
In
today’s gospel, Jesus makes a distinction between those who consider religion
as only observance of rituals, customs and traditions (as Pharisees and scribes
considered), and those who consider it as a spiritual force to serve others and to practice the spiritual values contained
in it. We are constantly in danger of equating true religion with mere external
observances like customarily or
routinely going to church, saying prayers, lighting candles, offering masses,
etc. Though these practices are expressions of our faith in God, they may not
necessarily make us good and holy
persons, if our hearts are
away from God and neighbours. Jesus teaches us that true religion does not consist in observing external rules and
traditions alone, but comes from the heart. If we keep enmity, bitterness,
grudges, pride, hatred, etc., in our hearts and only externally follow all the
religious practices, customs, rituals and traditions, God may tell us, as Jesus
told the scribes and Pharisees quoting the Prophet Isaiah, that we honour him
with our lips, but our hearts are far from him. When we worship, God looks at
our hearts, not our external observance. Instead of keeping ourselves busy in
ritual purification, in trivial rules and regulations and arguments over them,
Jesus asks us to get back to the basics or
essentials of our faith and purify our hearts first. If somebody attends daily
Mass, then goes home to quarrel with the person with whom he/she always
quarrels, it is understood that this is not a religion of the heart. Surely,
God is not pleased with this type of worship!
For
Jesus holiness meant a purity of heart. His views on holiness
differed radically from the religious leaders of Judaism. The Pharisees and the
scribes thought that holiness before God could be achieved merely by observing
laws and traditions regarding ritual purity. According to Jesus, just by
observing external rules and traditions meticulously nobody becomes holy. He
tells us to eat whosoever is palatable to us, but keep God’s commandments. For
him holiness could be achieved only when our love for God results in loving our
neighbours which is proved by our
care for the needy and the afflicted, uncompromising stand on certain moral
issues, etc. Pope Francis, in his recent Apostolic Exhortation titled “Gaudete
et Exultate” (Rejoice and be Glad) says that holiness is accessible to
all; holiness is attainable by all. He calls us to go beyond the canonized
saints and recognize "the saints next door” – Christians who live a
saintly life not by doing big and dramatic actions but by living the gospel
values and bearing witness to
Christ in so many small and little ways in their own state of life or situation.
You too can be holy by showing God’s love to others in a small way, even by
your “patience” and “charming smile,” as the Pope says.
In
today’s text we hear Jesus directly calling the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites (7:6) – actors in a drama who hide their real face behind masks. Like him, though we cannot call anybody directly a hypocrite, all of
us, including me, have elements of hypocrisy
in us. Are we not becoming mere actors or pretenders in a ‘religious drama’ if we observe all the
regulations of our religion (like regular attendance at the Sunday Service, novenas
and charismatic prayers), but just close our eyes and do nothing when injustice done under our nose, when the rights of the defenceless (including the unborn and the
terminally ill persons) are violated,
when we see so much suffering and poverty in
the world, when we become insensitive
to the dire needs of others, when we see highly corrupt or immoral practices around us? Instead of feeling powerless to do
anything, why not use the internet to
send an objection, a concern, a support, an encouragement, an opposition, a suggestion,
an awareness, a warning or caution, or a thought-provoking message through
email, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Blog, Website?
Also
there may be other symptoms of hypocrisy in us: When we do not practice what we preach, or strictly demand from others
the norms of discipline and higher moral standards that we ourselves do not
practice; when we ourselves are not convinced or do not believe what we say in public (often because of our position
as parents and leaders); when we are so kind and generous to outsiders but are harsh and miserly within our own families/ religious
communities; and when we pretend to be holy/ spiritual-minded/ pious/ faithful to our vocation in the world
outside, but are corrupt and unfaithful
in our private life, etc. Yes, we have a public face and a private face. How
hard it is for all of us to heed to Jesus’ demand to take out our masks!
According
to Jesus, the root cause
of all evil is in human mind or heart, not body. For him, what makes us unclean is not what we eat but what
we think, and impurity is
a matter of the heart and not of the stomach. In biblical symbolism,
"heart" is considered the centre of the human person where his/her
sentiments, intentions
and will-power dwell. Therefore, it is sins
(evil) which come out of the heart which truly defile a person, not what type of food he/she eats. Food comes from outside,
enters the stomach and does not remain there. But sin begins in the heart,
enters deeply into it and remains there until it is rooted out by a painful
process of repentance. Both our inner purity
and inner impurity are manifested in outward behaviour, either good or bad. Good intention, good action; evil intention, evil action.
Before committing an evil action, first an evil thought or imagination is
generated in the mind. It is by giving consent to this thought or acting according to this evil intention, we commit
sins or indulge in wrongdoing. That is why Jesus says, what goes into the mouth
does not defile a person, but what comes out of it does.
All
of us have a wonderful ‘friend’ inside us called “conscience” that rejoices when we do something good, and pricks or stings when
we do something wrong. No doubt, we have an ‘enemy’ too inside us called “evil
intentions.” This ‘enemy’ generates
wicked thoughts that result in wicked words and actions. When we have an
ill-formed conscience, it stops pricking even if we do something terribly
wrong. Our human nature is inclined to all sorts of evil desires, thoughts and
actions enlisted by Christ in today’s gospel. Even the most basic human faculty
such as love can be exercised either with a clean heart and selfless thoughts,
or with a polluted heart with
selfish motives. Left to ourselves we are unable to control all these evil
inclinations.
In modern
times, our minds can get easily contaminated
because they are so much exposed to sex, violence, crime, corruption, etc., due
to the influence of mass media. If not controlled, this ‘inner enemy’ propelled
by the outer force (exposure to evil) is capable of contaminating our conscience and cutting off our communion with God. Therefore
we are always in need of ‘inner cleansing’ or a purification of the heart with the help of God’s grace. Here
purity means a purity of mind and intentions. We are to regularly nip our evil
intentions in the bud itself, so that our actions do not become evil or sinful.
If our intentions are pure, our action will be virtuous. We need to purify our
‘polluted’ minds regularly by prayer and reflection on God’s Word. The list of
vices mentioned by Jesus in today’s gospel (cf. above) is strong enough to make
us realize our need for a self-examination and self-purification.
Finally,
the tension between the legalistic
and literal understanding of the law and its true spirit noticed in today’s gospel text, exists even
today. Instead of living the weightier values of the gospel, or practicing its
spirituality, there are people who fanatically or stubbornly hold on to certain
religious rules, customs and practices by insisting on the letter of the law.
Though rules, regulations, customs and traditions in religion and society are good
in their own way, they are not immutable.
It is good to examine whether we are open to change a tradition according to
the signs
of the times. It is necessary to
check whether we substitute what is essential with what is trivial or what is subject
to change. As Jesus said it is important to consider
obedience to God’s Word as more important than obedience to ‘human precepts’.
5. Response to
God's Word
Do
we seriously try to practice any of the gospel-values by making a choice in our
real life or confine ourselves to merely paying lip-service to them? Do we
emphasize the practice of gospel-values in our life more than the emphasis we
give to religious rules, customs, traditions and rituals? Do move from merely hearing the Word to
becoming the doers of the Word? Have we become victims to the vices mentioned
by Jesus in today’s gospel without seriously bothering to strike at their root?
Do we regularly purify our ‘polluted’ minds by prayer, reflection on God’s Word
and the sacraments?
6. A prayer
Create
in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Purify my
mind and its understanding that I may be able to distinguish between what is
right and what is wrong, holy and unholy, worldly and heavenly, secular and
spiritual, selfish and loving. Grant that I may be able to make positive
decisions to use my bodily, mental and spiritual faculties according to your
will and not according to my selfish and momentary desires. Amen.
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