September 02, 2018 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Dt 4:1–2, 6–8 2nd Reading: Jas 1:17-18, 21-22, 27 Gospel: Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
One day the Pharisees gathered around Jesus and with them were some teachers of the Law who had just come from Jerusalem.They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their meal with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. 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.”Jesus then called the people to him again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can make that person unclean. It is what comes out from within that makes unclean.For evil designs come out of the heart: theft, murder, adultery, jealousy, greed, maliciousness, deceit, indecency, slander, pride and folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Jesus applied to the Pharisees the derogatory prophecy of Isaiah about hypocrites paying tribute to God by mere lip service. This application was justified because it was a matter of public knowledge that the Pharisees preferred the superficial over the substantial in matters of spirituality. The Pharisees looked for every occasion to capture public approval. They loved to pray in marketplaces and to occupy places of honor at banquets. As self-proclaimed arbiters of peoples’ religiosity, they were harsh in exacting observance of the law to the letter. But they were lax in matters of interiority. Jesus succinctly described them as hypocrites because they labored to appear being close to God yet their hearts were somewhere else.
How far away are our hearts from God? Definitely our external devotions are not reliable barometers to gage the proximity. Perhaps love is! – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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