22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B – 2015

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 first-fruits 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                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.”

My sisters and brothers in Christ,

The readings today form us in how to listen to God’s word and how to respond to it.  It is important for us to realize that God speaks to us in Holy Scripture but that we are not fundamentalists.  Rather, we must understand the whole Bible as one book and each of the books within the Bible must be interpreted in light of all of the other books.  Thus we must be careful never to take a teaching out of context but must listen to the whole Bible.

The first reading today, from the book of Deuteronomy, tells us about Moses instructing our ancestors in the faith.  They are commanded to keep the commandments, neither adding to them nor subtracting from them.  This is also how we revere all of Scripture, our Bible.  We do not add new books to it, as many would like to in our time, nor do we subtract books from it, as has been done in the past.  Rather we receive the Bible as inspired as a whole work and we read it in light of the complete Bible rather than one little bit at a time.

The Gospel from Mark today tells us about the traditions of the elders and how they came to conflict with the Scriptures.  We Catholics should be very aware of the same types of situations.  There are teachings in our Church which are disciplines and not divine teachings.  That is normal in any institution.  The Church is a Divine entity but also a human institution.  We are much more aware of this in our day because of the scandals of sexual abuse.  We must be cautious not to think that because of sexual abuse, then every aspect of the Church is simply a human construct.  This is what many would have us believe today.

If the Church is simply a human construct, then there is no Jesus Christ who is the Son of God and there is no sense in belonging to any Church.

The second reading today gives us a clear summary:  Be doers of the word and not hearers only.  You and I must continue to read Scripture, always listening to it in the light of all of Scripture and in the light of the early teachers of Christianity and in light of the teachings of the Church.  We are not meant simply to hear this word of the Lord and then think that it no longer applies to us.  Rather, we meditate the Word in order to let the Word possess us and guide us in our actions.  This open, positive, trusting reading of the Word is very different from some kind of academic critique of the Word in such a way that the Word becomes meaningless.

Instead of disregarding God’s commandment and clinging to human traditions and teachings, we are called to be transformed into the very life of Jesus Himself.  Come, Holy Spirit, enlighten us.

Your brother in the Lord,

Abbot Philip, OSB