Mark 7:1-13
Now when the Pharisees with
some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they
observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that
is, unwashed, hands. [For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not
eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the
elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without
purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have
traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles
(and beds).] So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your
disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal
with unclean hands?" He responded, "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." He went on to say, "How well you have set aside the
commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said,
´Honor your father and your mother,´ and ´Whoever curses father or
mother shall die.´ Yet you say, ´If a person says to father or mother,
"Any support you might have had from me is qorban"´ (meaning, dedicated
to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You
nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed
on. And you do many such things."
Introductory Prayer: Lord,
thank you for your Gospel and for all the truth it teaches me. Thank you
for warning me of attitudes and dispositions that could become
temptations for me. I love you for your goodness and mercy, and I
entrust myself into your loving hands.
Petition: Lord, help me to serve you sincerely, in truth and in love.
“This people honors me only with lip service, while their hearts
are far from me.” Jesus calls his disciples to authenticity. Too often
so-called disciples give the impression of following him, while at the
same time accepting sensual loves and lusts in their heart. Although the
Pharisees display the outward trappings of holiness, the way they treat
Jesus and others betrays their true character. Jesus would call them
“whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 15:27): clean and bright on the outside,
but full of dead men’s bones within. Self-righteousness would be their
downfall. Such dispositions may lend the proud man certain short-term
security, but it will always be illusory since it is not rooted in the
truth. Is there any way in which I also pay tribute to God with my lips
but say something else in my heart, or behave contrariwise in my
actions.
“The worship they offer me is worthless.” True
worship begins with humility, when the soul recognizes that it possesses
no good in and of itself, but that all of its goodness comes from God.
The Pharisees offered no real worship to God since, in effect, they
worshipped only themselves by relying more on their talents and goodness
than on the goodness that comes from God. It is not insignificant that
when Jesus describes a Pharisee’s prayer in the parable of the Pharisee
and the tax collector, he says “The Pharisee prayed this prayer to
himself” (Luke 18:11). How can I make sure that my prayer is truly
devoted, meaning that I am addressing Our Lord with the words of my
heart?
"You make God’s word null and void.” The Pharisees
used the talents and gifts God had given them not for God’s glory, but
for their own personal gain, whether that gain consisted of praise and
admiration or personal comfort and ease. True worship of God, truly
placing God above all else, involves using the things God created as
means to reaching him. As number 226 of the Catechism of the Catholic
Church states, “It means making good use of created things: faith in
God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only
insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it
insofar as it turns us away from him:
My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.”
Conversation with Christ: Lord, thank you for my life and all the good
things you have given me. Help me to realize that you have created
everything and that all I have is from you. May I use all I have to
serve others and as a means to come closer to you, the source of all
good.
Resolution: I will examine my conscience to see if I am
using any of my gifts and talents to glorify or serve only myself. If
so, I’ll strive to put these same gifts at the service of God.
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