22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
Psalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5 (1a)
James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
September 1, 2024
Some of the Pharisees and the scribes saw that Jesus’ disciples “ate their meals with unclean, that is unwashed hands.” To the Pharisees this is a big deal because they did “not eat without carefully washing their hands.”
Why? Because this is what the “tradition of the elders” said to do. As the passage continues the word used switches from “washing” to “purifying.”
I’d like to make two important distinctions here. First, it refers to the “tradition of the elders” and not the dictate of the Lord. There were purification rituals prescribed by God. These rituals were for purification from sin. Washing on the other hand is a “human precept.” Washing our hands is a good human precept but it serves a different purpose than purification rituals. Washing is to remove germs.
The Pharisees had lots of rules for external actions. God is concerned with what is in our hearts. External actions are important, especially when they signify what is in the heart, but the point is not the external action. The point is to have a pure heart.
We are called to walk blamelessly, do justice, hold the truth in our hearts, do no harm to others, and engage in honest business practices. If we do this, we can look forward to living in the presence of the Lord.
All good things come from above and have their source in the Father. We are to “welcome the word” that God has given us by graciously embracing as the truth and the way God calls us to live.
We come here for Mass for one hour. During part of Mass we hear God’s Word but we are not to be just hearers of his Word. We are called to “Be doers of the word.” We miss the point of hearing God’s Word if we do not go out and glorify the Lord by our lives by doing his Word.
God’s Word is good for us. God does not give us commandments to suit his needs. He gives us commandments that direct us how to truly live as we are meant to so that we may enter his Kingdom.
Some people today want to subtract from what God has taught in his Word. For example, they want to drop much of what God has taught regarding the 6th Commandment regarding human sexuality.
Others think the Catholic Church adds rules. Our Church does not see to add rules, only, led by the Holy Spirit, to apply what God has taught to our world today.
When we follow God’s commandments, we will find prosperity. This is not prosperity with money. It is prosperity with eternal life.
It saddens me when I see how much emphasis people put on freedom. I think some have gone as far as to make their notion of freedom to be their God. They value freedom (aka choice) above all each.
God does give us free will. We are free to make choices for ourselves. That does not mean we should do whatever we want.
Regarding freedom, St. Pope John Paul II said, “Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought” (Pope John Paul II, “Homily of his holiness John Paul II” during his Apostolic Journey to America. Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore. October 8, 1995. http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paulii/en/homilies/1995/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19951008_baltimore.html, italics my emphasis).
What we ought to do is what God teaches us. The life we are created for is not one of malice, unchastity, adultery, or greed. We are created for eternal life.
To enter eternal life requires us to hand our freedom over to God.
You can’t buy your way into eternal life. It doesn’t matter how much money or notoriety you have when you face your final judgment.
It doesn’t matter if our name is written down in human history. What matters is whether or not our names are written in the Book of Life.
I don’t understand people who think their sins don’t matter. If our sins don’t matter, then why did Jesus die on the Cross? God doesn’t just ignore our sins because Jesus died for us. God takes our sins away from us.
Follow him. Do your best and when you fall short, ask for his forgiveness.