Tuesday of
the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 330
Lectionary: 330
 |
| Mk 7:1-13 |
God said,
“Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,
and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.”
And so it happened:
God created the great sea monsters
and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,
and all kinds of winged birds.
God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,
“Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;
and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day.
Then God said,
“Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:
cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.”
And so it happened:
God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle,
and all kinds of creeping things of the earth.
God saw how good it was.
Then God said:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, and the cattle,
and over all the wild animals
and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”
God created man in his image;
in the divine image he created him;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying:
“Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth.”
God also said:
“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;
and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food.”
And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,
he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.
Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.
“Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,
and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.”
And so it happened:
God created the great sea monsters
and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,
and all kinds of winged birds.
God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,
“Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;
and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day.
Then God said,
“Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:
cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.”
And so it happened:
God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle,
and all kinds of creeping things of the earth.
God saw how good it was.
Then God said:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, and the cattle,
and over all the wild animals
and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”
God created man in his image;
in the divine image he created him;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying:
“Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth.”
God also said:
“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;
and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food.”
And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,
he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.
Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.
Responsorial
Psalm Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. (2ab) O Lord, our God,
how wonderful your name in all the earth!
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place—
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place—
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
Gospel Mk 7:1-13
When the Pharisees with some
scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
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 someone 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.”
gathered around Jesus,
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 someone 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.”
www.usccb.org
Meditation:"Rejecting the
commandments of God"
What makes a person unclean or unfit to offer God acceptable worship? The
Jews went to great pains to ensure that their worship would conform to the
instructions which God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. God's call to his people
was a call to holiness: "be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44;
19:2). In their zeal for holiness many elders developed elaborate traditions
which became a burden for the people to carry out in their everyday lives. The
Scribes and Pharisees were upset with Jesus because he allowed his disciples to
break with their ritual traditions by eating with unclean hands. They sent a
delegation all the way from Jerusalem to Galilee to bring their accusation in a
face-to-face confrontation with Jesus. Jesus dealt with their accusation by
going to the heart of the matter – by looking at God's intention and purpose
for the commandments. Jesus gave an example of how their use of ritual
tradition excused them from fulfilling the commandment to honor one's father
and mother. If someone wanted to avoid the duty of financially providing for
their parents in old age or sickness they could say that their money or goods
were an offering "given over to God" and thus exempt from any claim
of charity or duty to help others. They broke God's law to fulfull a law of
their own making. Jesus explained that they void God's command because they
allowed their hearts and minds to be clouded by their own notions of religion. Jesus accused them specifically of two things. First of hypocrisy. Like actors, who put on a show, they appear to obey God's word in their external practices while they inwardly harbor evil desires and intentions. Secondly, he accused them of abandoning God's word by substituting their own arguments and ingenious interpretations for what God requires. They listened to clever arguments rather than to God's word. Jesus refers them to the prophecy of Isaiah (29:31) where the prophet accuses the people of his day for honoring God with their lips while their hearts went astray because of disobedience to God's laws.
If we listen to God's word with faith and reverence, it will both enlighten our mind and purify our heart – thus enabling us to better understand how he wants us to love and obey him. The Lord invites us to draw near to him and to feast at his banquet table. Do you approach with a clean heart and mind? Ask the Lord to cleanse and renew you with the purifying fire of his Holy Spirit.
"Lord Jesus, let the fire of your Holy Spirit cleanse my mind and my heart that I may love you purely and serve you worthily."
www.dailyscripture.net
 True Worship |
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time
|
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.
1. “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?
2. “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?
3. "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
|
www.regnumchristi.com
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12
MARK 7:1-13
(Genesis 1:20 ̶ 2:4a; Psalm 8)
KEY VERSE: "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition!" (v 9).
READING: The self-righteous Pharisaical religious leaders developed elaborate rituals to set themselves apart from the "unclean" Gentiles. When Jesus and his disciples were criticized for failing to perform the customary market and kitchen purification customs, he berated the leaders for their hypocrisy. In their slavish obedience to these doctrines, they neglected the heart and purpose of God's Law which was charity and justice (Is 29:13). Practices of external cleansing were useless if one's heart was impure. Dedicating one's property to God (Hebrew, qorban) in order to avoid supporting needy parents violated God's commandment to honor one's parents. Jesus said that the people nullified God's Law in favor of interpretations that suited their own selfish concerns.
REFLECTING: Am I the same person at home as I am in church?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, help me to examine my motives for all my religious practices.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY
Abraham Lincoln was born in the wilderness country of Hardin County, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. As the 16th president of the United States, Lincoln is remembered for his honesty, compassion, and strength of character, Lincoln remains one of the most respected presidents in American history. In addition to serving as president during the civil war and saving the Union, Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation that ended slavery in the U.S. He also wrote and gave The Gettysburg Address, memorializing the bloodiest and most important battle of the Civil War. Gettysburg proved to be the turning point of the war. Shortly after the war ended, Abraham Lincoln became the first U.S. President to be assassinated. He was shot and mortally wounded on Good Friday, April 14, 1865 by James Wilkes Booth in Ford's Theatre.
MARDI GRAS -- The
Feast before the Fast
"Mardi Gras" means "Fat Tuesday." For Christians, Mardi Gras is the last day to indulge before Ash Wednesday, which starts the sober weeks of fasting that come with Lent. Mardi Gras was formally known as Shrove Tuesday. The word "shrove" comes from "shrive," meaning "the confessions of sins" -- something done in preparation for Lent. Mardi Gras is a traditional holiday celebrated in many of the southern states of the USA, the most famous which takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mardi Gras came to New Orleans in 1699 when early explorers celebrated this French Holiday on the banks of the Mississippi River. Today people celebrate with parades and masquerade balls where they dress up in costumes. The official colors for Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. In 1872 Rex, the King of Carnival, chose these colors to stand for the following: Purple stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. The word "carnival" comes from the Latin words meaning "farewell to meat."
www.daily-word-of-life.com
O Lord, our God,
how wonderful your name in all the earth!
‘You put aside the
commandment of God to cling to human traditions.’We can justify anything. Recently, the chief executive of a major bank, whose annual salary is about $27,400 a day, said that people on unemployment benefits of $34 a day get too much. He advised cutting this further to force people to travel to another state to work in the mines. He has no idea what it is like to choose between paying rent and buying food.
To prevent more asylum seekers drowning at sea, Australia has returned to elements of the former Pacific Solution.
We have increased our humanitarian intake to 20,000 a year, but we still demonise and punish people whose only crime is to flee for their lives. Jesus, you told me to love my neighbour as myself. Am I doing that?
www.churchresources.info
St. Buonfiglio Monaldo
He was one of seven
Florentines who had joined the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin (the
Laudesi) in a particularly lax period in the city's history and who were
inspired by a vision on the feast of the Assumption to take up a life of
solitude and prayer. After nearly fifteen years of austerity at a hermitage on
Monte Senario he took the name in 1240 of Servants of Mary, or Servites. Six
were ordained, developed as mendicant friars under the direction of James of
Poggibonsi and Bishop Ardingo of Florence and established many houses and foreign
missions. Br. Bounfiglio served as its first prikor general from 1240 to 1256
and died on Jan 1. St. John Bounagiunta succeded him, St. Bartholomew Amidei
(Br. Hugh) established the order in Paris and St. Ricovero Ugoccione (Br.
Sostenesw) in lGermany. SS. Benedict dell'Antella (Br. Manettus) were ordained;
St. Alexis Falconieri became a lay brother and was the only one to live to see
the order approved by Pope Benedict XI in 1304. The "Seven Holy
Founders" of the Servites were canonized in 1887 by Pope Leo XIII. His
feastday is Feb. 12.
www.catholic.org
Lectio: Mark 7,1-13
Lectio:
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
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1) Opening prayer
Father,
watch over your family
and keep us safe in your care,
for all our hope is in you.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel reading - Mark 7,1-13
The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus, and they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, keep the tradition of the elders and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow; and on returning from the market place they never eat without first sprinkling themselves. There are also many other observances which have been handed down to them to keep, concerning the washing of cups and pots and bronze dishes. So the Pharisees and scribes asked him, 'Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands?'
He answered, 'How rightly Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites in the passage of scripture: This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. Their reverence of me is worthless; the lessons they teach are nothing but human commandments. You put aside the commandment of God to observe human traditions.' And he said to them, 'How ingeniously you get round the commandment of God in order to preserve your own tradition! For Moses said: Honour your father and your mother, and, Anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death. But you say, "If a man says to his father or mother: Anything I have that I might have used to help you is Korban (that is, dedicated to God)," then he is forbidden from that moment to do anything for his father or mother. In this way you make God's word ineffective for the sake of your tradition which you have handed down. And you do many other things like this.'
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today speaks about the religious traditions of that time and of the Pharisees who taught this tradition to the people. For example, to eat without washing the hands, as they said, to eat with impure hands. Many of these traditions were separated from life and had lost their significance. But even if this was the state of things, these were traditions kept and taught, either because of fear or because of superstition. The Gospel presents some instructions of Jesus concerning these traditions.
• Mark 7, 1-2: Control of the Pharisees and liberty of the disciples. The Pharisees and some Scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, observed how the disciples of Jesus ate the bread with impure hands. Here there are three points which deserve to be made evident: a) The Scribes were from Jerusalem, from the capital city! This means that they had come to observe and to control what Jesus did. b) The disciples do not wash the hands before eating! This means that being with Jesus impels them to have the courage to transgress the norms which tradition imposed on the people, but that no longer had any sense, any meaning for life. c) The fact of washing the hands, which up until now continues to be an important norm of hygiene, had assumed for them a religious significance which served to control and discriminate persons.
• Mark 7, 3-4: The Tradition of the Ancients. “The Tradition of the Ancients” transmitted norms which had to be observed by the people in order to have the purity asked by the Law. The observance of the law was a very serious aspect for the people of that time. They thought that an impure person could not receive the blessings promised by God to Abraham. The norms on purity were taught in order to open the way to God, source of peace. In reality, instead of being a source of peace, the norms constituted a prison, slavery. For the poor, it was practically impossible to observe the hundreds of norms, of traditions and of laws. For this reason they were considered ignorant and damned persons who did not know the law (Jn 7, 49).
• Mark 7, 5: The Scribes and the Pharisees criticize the behaviour of the disciples of Jesus. The Scribes and Pharisees ask Jesus: Why do your disciples not behave according to the tradition of the Ancients and eat the bread with impure hands? They think that they are interested in knowing the reason for the behaviour of the disciples. In reality, they criticize Jesus because he allows the disciples to transgress the norms of purity. The Pharisees formed a type of confraternity, the principal concern of which was to observe all the laws of purity. The Scribes were responsible for the doctrine. They taught the laws relative to the observance of purity.
• Mark 7, 6-13 Jesus criticizes the incoherence of the Pharisees. Jesus answers quoting Isaiah: This people approaches me only in words, honours me only with lip service, while their hearts are far from me (cf. Is 29, 13). Insisting on the norms of purity, the Pharisees emptied the content of the commandments of God’s Law. Jesus quotes a concrete example. They said: the person, who offers his goods to the Temple, cannot use these goods to help those in greater need. Thus, in the name of tradition they emptied the fourth commandment from its content, which commands to love father and mother. These persons seem to be very observant, but they are so only externally. In their heart, they remain far away from God; as the hymn says: “His name is Jesus Christ and is hungry, and lives out on the sidewalk. And people when they pass by, sometimes do not stop, because they are afraid to arrive late to church!” At the time of Jesus, people, in their wisdom, were not in agreement with everything they were taught. They were hoping that one day the Messiah would come to indicate another way to attain purity. In Jesus this hope becomes a reality.
4) Personal questions
• Do you know any religious tradition today which does not have too much sense, but which continues to be taught?
• The Pharisees were practicing Jews, but their faith was divided, separated from the life of the people. This is why Jesus criticizes them. And today, would Jesus criticize us? In what things?
5) Concluding prayer
Our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the world!
I look up at your heavens, shaped by your fingers,
at the moon and the stars you set firm-
what are human beings that you spare a thought for them,
or the child of Adam that you care for him? (Ps 8,1.3-4)
Father,
watch over your family
and keep us safe in your care,
for all our hope is in you.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel reading - Mark 7,1-13
The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus, and they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, keep the tradition of the elders and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow; and on returning from the market place they never eat without first sprinkling themselves. There are also many other observances which have been handed down to them to keep, concerning the washing of cups and pots and bronze dishes. So the Pharisees and scribes asked him, 'Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands?'
He answered, 'How rightly Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites in the passage of scripture: This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. Their reverence of me is worthless; the lessons they teach are nothing but human commandments. You put aside the commandment of God to observe human traditions.' And he said to them, 'How ingeniously you get round the commandment of God in order to preserve your own tradition! For Moses said: Honour your father and your mother, and, Anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death. But you say, "If a man says to his father or mother: Anything I have that I might have used to help you is Korban (that is, dedicated to God)," then he is forbidden from that moment to do anything for his father or mother. In this way you make God's word ineffective for the sake of your tradition which you have handed down. And you do many other things like this.'
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today speaks about the religious traditions of that time and of the Pharisees who taught this tradition to the people. For example, to eat without washing the hands, as they said, to eat with impure hands. Many of these traditions were separated from life and had lost their significance. But even if this was the state of things, these were traditions kept and taught, either because of fear or because of superstition. The Gospel presents some instructions of Jesus concerning these traditions.
• Mark 7, 1-2: Control of the Pharisees and liberty of the disciples. The Pharisees and some Scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, observed how the disciples of Jesus ate the bread with impure hands. Here there are three points which deserve to be made evident: a) The Scribes were from Jerusalem, from the capital city! This means that they had come to observe and to control what Jesus did. b) The disciples do not wash the hands before eating! This means that being with Jesus impels them to have the courage to transgress the norms which tradition imposed on the people, but that no longer had any sense, any meaning for life. c) The fact of washing the hands, which up until now continues to be an important norm of hygiene, had assumed for them a religious significance which served to control and discriminate persons.
• Mark 7, 3-4: The Tradition of the Ancients. “The Tradition of the Ancients” transmitted norms which had to be observed by the people in order to have the purity asked by the Law. The observance of the law was a very serious aspect for the people of that time. They thought that an impure person could not receive the blessings promised by God to Abraham. The norms on purity were taught in order to open the way to God, source of peace. In reality, instead of being a source of peace, the norms constituted a prison, slavery. For the poor, it was practically impossible to observe the hundreds of norms, of traditions and of laws. For this reason they were considered ignorant and damned persons who did not know the law (Jn 7, 49).
• Mark 7, 5: The Scribes and the Pharisees criticize the behaviour of the disciples of Jesus. The Scribes and Pharisees ask Jesus: Why do your disciples not behave according to the tradition of the Ancients and eat the bread with impure hands? They think that they are interested in knowing the reason for the behaviour of the disciples. In reality, they criticize Jesus because he allows the disciples to transgress the norms of purity. The Pharisees formed a type of confraternity, the principal concern of which was to observe all the laws of purity. The Scribes were responsible for the doctrine. They taught the laws relative to the observance of purity.
• Mark 7, 6-13 Jesus criticizes the incoherence of the Pharisees. Jesus answers quoting Isaiah: This people approaches me only in words, honours me only with lip service, while their hearts are far from me (cf. Is 29, 13). Insisting on the norms of purity, the Pharisees emptied the content of the commandments of God’s Law. Jesus quotes a concrete example. They said: the person, who offers his goods to the Temple, cannot use these goods to help those in greater need. Thus, in the name of tradition they emptied the fourth commandment from its content, which commands to love father and mother. These persons seem to be very observant, but they are so only externally. In their heart, they remain far away from God; as the hymn says: “His name is Jesus Christ and is hungry, and lives out on the sidewalk. And people when they pass by, sometimes do not stop, because they are afraid to arrive late to church!” At the time of Jesus, people, in their wisdom, were not in agreement with everything they were taught. They were hoping that one day the Messiah would come to indicate another way to attain purity. In Jesus this hope becomes a reality.
4) Personal questions
• Do you know any religious tradition today which does not have too much sense, but which continues to be taught?
• The Pharisees were practicing Jews, but their faith was divided, separated from the life of the people. This is why Jesus criticizes them. And today, would Jesus criticize us? In what things?
5) Concluding prayer
Our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the world!
I look up at your heavens, shaped by your fingers,
at the moon and the stars you set firm-
what are human beings that you spare a thought for them,
or the child of Adam that you care for him? (Ps 8,1.3-4)
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