First Reading
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
Moses said to the people: “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. In your observance of the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, ‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’ For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?”
Second Reading
James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
Dearest brothers and sisters: All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Gospel Cycle Cycle B
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
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 summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”
You disregard God’s commandments but cling to human tradition! Perhaps when we hear these words, we think that the words refer to someone else and not to us. The Gospels, however, are always written for you and me. They are words that are addressed to us personally and we need to listen to them attentively.
The first reading, from the Book of Deuteronomy, is also about God’s words to us. God is giving His word to those who want to follow Him. He invites us to follow Him and to understand His words. He invited our ancestors in the faith as well. It is as though every day in every generation God is saying: Come, follow me.
For lots of Christians, following God becomes a matter of keeping laws and commandments. It is just this that Jesus is criticizing. Following the Lord is not about keeping laws and commandments so much as it is about setting our hearts on Him and allowing Him to form us in a way of living. Yes, of course, there are laws and commands, but they are there to form us so that our hearts are always with the Lord.
Jesus tells us that the real defilement comes from within us: “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”
When we look at this list of inner thoughts that can defile us, we must recognize that our modern culture practically encourages us to do all of these things and to live in this way, which is a way of defilement. It is not easy to live a life following Jesus Christ today. If we go down this list, right away we see that our culture has absolutely no use for chastity. Young people are formed and encouraged to live active sexual lives. The only rule of thumb is “Don’t hurt another person.” So this value is gone.
Theft seems to be all around us and perhaps especially in business leaders and among politicians—those who often serve as examples or at least used to be examples. Our culture sort of thinks that if you can get away with it, it is all right. Murder is all around us. None of us wants to be murdered and we don’t want our families or friends murdered, but we are not so good about our thoughts about others. Only listening to talk radio from either the right or the left gives a pretty bleak picture of modern culture. Adultery is again one of those things that the present culture sees as wrong if it hurts the marriage, not because somehow we know that it will always harm a true sacramental marriage. Greed! Everything in our culture encourages us to want as much as possible, which is just so against the Gospel of our Lord. Malice—wanting evil to come upon someone else. Again, listen to talk radio.
There is no need to go to everything on the list. The following of Christ demands enormous energy and strength today. Almost all of the present cultural values are against Christian values. The challenge is not persecution—persecution makes Christians strong. The challenge is a life of comfort and ease and everyone wanting everything to be easy. Following Christ is much more quickly eroded by this pursuit of pleasure than it is by outright persecution.
What God do you want to follow? Are you willing to follow Jesus Christ? Watch the values that come forth from your heart and hold them up to Jesus Himself! Be doers of the word, and not hearers only!