Corban

February 09, 2016 Tuesday,

5th Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: 1 Kgs 8: 22-23. 27-30

Gospel: Mk 7:1–13

Now the Pharisees, and in fact, all the Jews, never eat without washing their hands for they follow the tradition received from their ancestors. Nor do they eat anything when they come from the market without first washing themselves. And there are many other traditions they observe, for example, the ritual washing of cups, pots and plates. So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but eat with unclean hands?” Jesus answered, “You, shallow people! How well Isaiah prophesied of you when he wrote: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless, for what they teach are only human rules. You even put aside the commandment of God to hold fast to human tradition.”

And Jesus commented, “You have a fine way of disregarding the commandment of God in order to implant your own tradition. For example, Moses said: Do your duty to your father and your mother, and: Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death. But according to you someone could say to his father or mother: ‘I already declared Corban, which means “offered to God,” what you could have expected from me.’ In this case, you no longer let him do anything for a father or mother. So you nullify the word of God through the tradition you have handed on. And you do many other things like that.”

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE

(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)

“Corban” refers to the old Jewish custom of dedicating personal resources to the Temple. As practiced in Jesus’ time, this had the effect of exempting Temple donors even from their duty to support their parents on the ground that their resources already belonged to God. Yet they were still free to use these resources for their own enjoyment. Jesus saw in this practice the cunning way of circumventing the Mosaic Law on parental support.

Today’s Gospel should disturb us in case we too have found convenient excuses. The duty to support our parents is not even about charity but about a sworn duty. The more common circumvention, though, is in the area of charity towards others. Worth revisiting is our taking advantage of the anti-mendicancy ordinance and similar laws. While such laws aim at dismantling the culture of mendicancy, it does not intend to outlaw charity. Nothing stops us from donating some of our hard-earned money to charitable institutions. A heart of generosity always finds a way. A selfish one hides behind a “corban”.—Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.

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