August 29, 2021

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, or what Christians call the Old Testament, are also known as the Torah. These contain the laws, or more appropriately, the teachings which God gave to Moses and the people of Israel after the Exodus from Egypt. The readings for today present what appears to be a dichotomy over certain aspects of the law which deserves a bit of explanation.

The First Reading is taken from the book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 4:1-2, 6-8). It is often known as the “Last Will and Testament of Moses” because it consists of a series of speeches that Moses gives the Israelites before his death on the edge of the Promised Land. In this particular speech, Moses is fervently reminding the people to rigorously observe the statues and ordinances that the Lord has given them. He tells them, “In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I am commanding you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.” (Deut. 4:2).

The meaning of the law for the Israelites was much more than just a set of ritualistic practices, with many regulations, rules, and prohibitions. Rather, it was designed to encompass every aspect of Israelite life, including agriculture, commerce, ownership of property, and marriage, as well as many civil and criminal matters.

The laws of ritual purity, regulating what was considered clean versus unclean, particularly ordered the daily lives of the Israelites as an aspect of their continued holiness. This was so they could serve as an example of devotion to their pagan neighbors. As Moses says, “Observe them carefully, for this is your wisdom and discernment in the sight of the peoples, 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?” (Deut. 4:6-7).

When it comes to the Gospel from Mark (Mk. 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23), Jesus seems to be contradicting what Moses has told the Israelites. Some of the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, who held strict observance to both written and traditional laws of the elders, gathered around Jesus. They confronted him about the fact that some of his disciples did not adhere to the laws of cleanliness: eating without washing their hands, purifying themselves after being in the marketplace (among Gentiles), and the purification of cooking utensils.

The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” (Mk. 7:5). It is important to note here that the Pharisees are not using the word “unclean” as we interpret it today, for example, washing with soap and water. Rather, they are referring to special rituals of holiness we might compare to dipping our fingers in the Baptismal Font at the entrance of the Church.

Jesus then offers a scathing rebuke: “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. 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, and folly.” (Mk. 7:6-8, 14-15, 21-22).

Now one would think that Jesus is dismissing the long-standing traditional laws of Judaism and suggesting that they no longer need to be observed. But it is well-known that both Jesus and his disciples were very much law-abiding Jews. In fact, Jesus himself said at one time, “I have come not to abolish the law but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” (Mt. 5:17b-18)

So, what is the meaning of this contradiction? It lies in two concepts for which Jesus accuses the Pharisees: the idea that they are hypocrites and the fact that they “disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” We might clarify these by using examples that apply to us today.

The first is that many of us might recognize fellow parishioners (or perhaps even ourselves at times) who are hypocrites. Those who attend Mass for one hour every Sunday but will not give the time of day to a lonely neighbor. Or those who make the largest contribution to the collection basket but will not spare a dime for a relative in need. This is what the Pharisees were like. They observed every religious law but ignored the needs of the people who were under their jurisdiction.

The second is that which delineates human tradition from God’s commandments. For example, we have many “human traditions,” which are defined as those we observe as dictated by the Church for some time, but for some reason are subject to change. Some examples include eating meat on all Fridays, going to Confession before receiving the Eucharist, or saying the Mass only in Latin. These were the types of human laws the Pharisees rigorously held.

But they often disregarded some of the laws which God dictates come from the human heart or mind. Jesus gives a whole list of these: greed, theft, murder, adultery, and so forth. Again, we might compare these to some of our modern-day action.

For example, while it is important to fast and abstain during Lent, it is much more essential not to arrogantly disapprove of a co-worker who eats meat on Good Friday who is not Catholic. Or perhaps to take a half day off work to attend Mass on a Holy Day of obligation but criticize those who cannot attend because they have to work a twelve-hour day to feed their family. And maybe you compliment your neighbor on his new car but secretly plot to get one that is bigger and faster. These are the types of sins that come from “within” which Jesus condemned of the Pharisees: arrogance, malice, and envy.

This is what Jesus meant when he said he came to “fulfill, not to abolish.” He meant that we examine our thoughts and actions and seek with all of our hearts to follow one of the greatest laws of all: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Mt. 22:39).