27-Aug-2006
Dear Friend,
Most of us, whether we admit it or not, are creatures of tradition. We do not
like our regular and routine ways to be disturbed. In fact we tend to resent
breaks in routine and quickly wish to get back to what we are always used to
doing. Is our faith merely a set of ritual routine practices? Are we open to
promptings of the heart? Have a heart check up this weekend! Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: Twenty-second Sunday of the Year -Religion of the Heart!
03-Sep-2006
Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8,
14-15, 21-23;
In todays first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy Moses urges the people
to be faithful to Gods law, which is not a burden to be endured, but a source
of life and wisdom. The reading underlines the distinction to be made between
the commandments of God and human traditions, which is also the point of the
gospel reading. How often we use one interpretation of the law to judge and
find fault with others, while we use another to excuse ourselves and our
behaviour. So often well- meaning people oppose new norms or rules of conduct
just because they do not suit the way of life they are used to.
When it comes to the subject of tradition, peoples attitudes can vary
dramatically. Most people will argue for their way of doing things as the right
one because thats the way it was done. Much good is left undone because we
always do it this way. People have an affectionate loyalty to traditional way
of doing things. They feel secure when they adapt their values and behaviour to
received wisdom, reassured that they are following in the footsteps of others.
As G.K Chesterton remarked: Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure
of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.
A Heart check up!
There is a story about a master who one day put the following question to
some of his disciples: What is the thing that one should avoid most in life?
An evil eye, said the first. A treacherous friend, said the second. A bad
neighbour, said the third. A bad heart, said the fourth. The master liked
the last answer best, because it included all the others. Then he said, And
what is the most desirable thing to strive for in life? A good eye, said the
first. A good friend, said the second. A good neighbour, said the third. A
good heart, said the fourth. The Master liked the last answer best, because it
included all the others. -We must strive for cleanness of heart. Total purity
of heart is unattainable here on earth. It is a struggle that will always go
on. A pure heart is not the same as an empty heart. A heart that is full of
love is a pure and healthy heart.
'Flor McCarthy, in 'New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies'
In the second reading St. James reminds his readers that it is not enough to
listen to the word of God, we must put it into practice. James likens the word
of God to a mirror. He says, to listen to the word of God
.is like looking at
our own features in a mirror, to examine ourselves against the word of God is
to look into a perfect mirror. James concludes that religion should lead to
action. Pure unspoilt religion is this: coming to the help of orphans and
widows, when they need it and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.
Faith without action is dead.
In todays gospel Jesus points out the distinction between what we want to do
for God, human traditions, and what God expects of us. We do many things in the
name of God and of religion but have we ever stopped to find out whether all
that we do is what God wants or what we want to do in the name of God? The
scribes and the Pharisees appeal to a corpus of prescriptions and usages
specified and interpreted the law of Moses in order to make religion
inseparable from daily life. This intention in itself was laudable and Jesus
did not reject it but he says that religious practices must never be allowed to
mask the essential thing: the state of the heart, the purity of our conscience,
our loyal commitment of our liberty to God.
Before God each one of us is worth only what our heart is worth: from our
heart should proceed that worship which our whole existence should offer to
God. What we do in the name of religion should give expression to this centre
of ourselves where the decisions we make as free human beings are taken. The
Gospel stands between legalism and laxity. The law without the heart is
hypocritical legalism, which seeks the reassurance of external observance
without engaging the total dynamism of our faith. But the heart without the law
is moral license, which fails to see the necessity of regulating the difficult
coexistence of the old man and the new man within each of us. Some of us
may have undergone an electrocardiogram at one time or another. Todays gospel
invites each of us to undergo the heart test to reveal the truth of what we
really are before God and before our neighbours. Glenstal Bible Missal
The Fall
In Albert Camus novel The Fall, the central figure is a nameless lawyer who
tells his story to a stranger he meets in a Dutch bar. The anonymous lawyer
relates how he had always prided himself on being a selfless servant of
humanity, a man of noble virtue and generosity. But then one dark rainy
midnight, something happened to shatter his self-righteous image. As he was
walking home over a bridge, he passed by a slim young woman leaning over the
rail and staring into the river. Stirred by the sight of her, he hesitated a
moment, and then walked on. After crossing the bridge he heard a body striking
the water, a cry repeated several times, and then the midnight silence again.
He wanted to do something to save her, but stood there motionless for a while
and then went home. The nameless lawyer in Camus story reminds us in some
ways of the Pharisees in todays gospel. The Pharisees were experts in the law
and prided themselves on their scrupulous observance of it. And yet
Jesus castigates them for their hypocrisy by quoting the prophet Isaiah: This
people pays me lip service but their heart is far from me.
Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds
The new law Jesus promulgated was not a written law, to be sure, for the
point of reference was the heart. Nothing, which does not enter the heart, can
defile a person. Food does not enter the heart therefore it cannot make one
unclean. But what comes from the heart, this, and this alone is decisive. And
by this gauge many things are evil such obvious things as theft and murder,
and such less obvious things as evil thoughts, pride and deceit. Here the
principle is exactly the same as in the Sermon on the Mount, where a harsh word
is as sinful as murder, and lustful desire as adultery, and where desire for
revenge cuts one off from God even more certainly that the more easily
recognized sins. Thoughts and desires, motives and emotions these are the
first forms which defilement takes. P.S.Minear
The Rabbi Prisoner
William Barclay, the Scottish theologian, tells the story about an old rabbi
who was in a Roman prison. He was on minimal rations of food and water. It was
enough for him to survive. As time passed the rabbi grew weaker and weaker.
Finally it became necessary to call the doctor. The old mans problem was
diagnosed as dehydration. The doctors report confused the prison officials.
They couldnt understand how the rabbi could be dehydrated. Although his daily
ration of drinking water was minimal, it was adequate. The guards were told to
watch the old man closely to see what he was doing with the water. It was then
that the mystery was solved. The guards discovered that the rabbi was using
almost all his water to perform religious ritual washings before he prayed and
before he ate. As a result he had little water to drink. The story helps us to
appreciate better todays gospel. It helps us to understand better the shock
and dismay Jewish leaders felt when they saw the
disciples of Jesus eat without performing the ritual washings.
Mark Link in Sunday Homilies
May my service to God not be lip-service but love-service!
Fr. Jude Botelho
www.netforlife.net
PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been
collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and
from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever
possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you
could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in
these reflections. These reflections are also available on my web site
www.netforlife.net Thank you.
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