by Fr. Jose “Joesum” Sumampong, Jr.
August 29, 2021
22nd Sunday in OT (B)
Twenty Second Sunday in OT (B)
Deuteronomy 4: 1-2, 6-8 / Psalm 15: 2 – 5 /
James 1: 17-18, 21-22, 27 / Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
TO LIVE A RELIGION OF THE HEART
Word: Today we return to Mark after five weeks with John’s gospel. This passage reveals Jesus’ attitude toward the law of God and his contrasting attitude toward traditions that were insisted upon by the Pharisees. The Pharisees sought to apply to all the people the rules about ritual impurity that the law of Moses required of priests.
Here such traditions come under attack by none other than Jesus himself. 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” (Mk 7:6-8). Jesus retorts forcefully and passionately. He counter-attacks. He uses Scripture to answer those who accuse his disciples (Isaiah 29:13). He rejects the emphasis on these human traditions, especially when they lead to violating the law of God in order to maintain merely human traditions.
Jesus then offers a more general statement about purity and impurity coming from within rather than from what one eats—thus rejecting the Jewish dietary laws. What makes a person really unclean is not what he or she eats but what he or she thinks. Impurity is not in the exterior materiality of an action, but in the heart.
The passage concludes with a listing of some of the kinds of impurity that flow from the human heart: “But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. 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.” (Mk 7:20-13).
o0o
Order: Although Mark suggests that Jesus nullified Jewish dietary regulations, it is important to note that Jesus’ own words do not challenge the validity of the Law itself, but rather what he perceived as hypocrisy on the part of the religious leaders.
The prophets in the Old Testament had often condemned religious formalism. In the eyes of God what matters is not the external gesture, but the heart. Jesus concentrates first on the human heart as the source of activity.
It is not difficult to think of bureaucratic regulations that can take on a life of their own at the expense of the persons they are supposed to serve. Jesus criticizes this tendency of rules and regulations to become more important for those in leadership positions within the church—whether as parish council members, BECs or GSK leaders, lay ministers, servant-leaders or parish priests—to reflect on ways in which we are hypocritical, upholding the law while ignoring the real needs of those we are called upon to serve.
o0o
Realities: 1. At my mountain cabin in western North Carolina, there is a refreshing spring of clean cool water. The oldest resident in the community says that he never knew it to dry up in summer or to freeze over in the winter. The water is pure and good, and the flow is constant at all times of the year. But the spring could become contaminated. This would happen if I let the dense growth above it be removed, or turned surface water into it, or built a stable and kept cattle just above it. No longer would its water be pure and good. No longer would it be desirable.
But I would not allow any of these things to happen to my spring. I keep it with all vigilance, for out of it flows water not only to my cabin but also to the cabins of neighbors. Friends come to see me and drink of water from the spring and an occasional hiker stops by to stake his thirst. For my sake and for theirs, my spring must be keep pure. (E. L. Clegg <Together>, HEART KEPT PURE
—–
2. At my mountain cabin in western North Carolina, there is a refreshing spring of clean cool water. The oldest resident in the community says that he never knew it to dry up in summer or to freeze over in the winter. The water is pure and good, and the flow is constant at all times of the year. But the spring could become contaminated. This would happen if I let the dense growth above it be removed, or turned surface water into it, or built a stable and kept cattle just above it. No longer would its water be pure and good. No longer would it be desirable.
But I would not allow any of these things to happen to my spring. I keep it with all vigilance, for out of it flows water not only to my cabin but also to the cabins of neighbors. Friends come to see me and drink of water from the spring and an occasional hiker stops by to stake his thirst. For my sake and for theirs, my spring must be keep pure. (E. L. Clegg <Together>, HEART KEPT PURE)
—–
3. This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blame Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. (Quote, PASSING THE BUCK)
—–
4.While liturgy is a community honoring of God, He can also be honored all day long. A person who is in constant contact with God can make a prayer out of anything. A cigarette enjoyed can be a prayer.
Lovers speak and communicate to one another without words. True love is wordless; it speaks through action. Have there ever been two people in love who did not sigh? Yes, every movement of the body can honor God.
Recall how refreshing the sensation of cool water flowing over a hot skin is in the summertime. In its way, the skin is thanking God for the wonderful sensation. To rejoice over being healthy is surely a way of praising God, for He is interested in having us healthy and using our bodies for their purposes …
St. Angela of Foligo narrates that once in a vision the Lord told her, “I take pleasure in all you do, whether you are eating or drinking or sleeping. I rejoice when all your bodily organs are functioning well.”
In his book “The Little Flowers,” St. Francis tells us that Brother Mario’s wonderment of God consisted of his constantly saying just: “uuuuu”. And Brother Bernard’s devotion to God consisted in running up and down the mountains and hills.
Behind all these experiences stands the fact that God surrounds us like light and air, like water around a fish. Our problem is that we have lost our instinct for his presence; we never think about it. We have lost our instinct for God’s nearness; we have lost the antenna and have not tuned in on the right channel.
Though God is actually near, he can be afar off. And so contact with him is similar to two lovers who want to hug one another, but can’t get close enough one another because of a window pane between them.
The fault with us is that we are used to getting all our sensations from outside us … and God is within. If we turn inside ourselves, we will find him there. There we can hear him talking to us, especially when we are silent and quiet. (August Paterno, PRAYING WITH THE WHOLE BODY)
—–
5. An attractive widow with three children moved into a certain town, and in a few weeks she was the most talked-about woman in town. She was too pretty; several men had been seen visiting her; she was a poor housekeeper; her children ran the streets and ate at the neighbor’s. She was lazy and spent most of her time lying on the sofa reading. Such was the conversation among the neighbors.
One morning, the attractive widow collapsed in the post office, and the truth soon came out. She was suffering from an incurable disease and could not do her housework She sent the children away when drugs could not control her pain. “I wanted them to think of me as always happy and gay,” she said. “ I wanted to pass away some time alone so they would never know.”
The male visitors were her old family doctor, the lawyer who looked after her estate, and her husband brother. The town was kind to her for the remaining months of her life, but the gossipers never forgave themselves. (Lovanik, RASH JUDGEMENT, GOSSIP)
—–
6. It is not hard to identify situations in church history and in our own times in which human traditions have been given precedence over the law of God. We all tend to get attached to our own customs and to our own ways of thinking, even though they may lead us to violate more basic principles of justice and love.
The late Fr. Gerry Pierse, C.Ss.R. has written, “We can find people who are very careful about their devotions and have no problems in treating their maids worse than their pets. Where are those who will travel hundreds of kilometers to see a dancing sun but who make very little effort to live the words of the gospel in their lives.” “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile” (Mk. 7:15). In these words, Jesus introduces an essential principle into ethics. But this principle is still today very far from being respected by our modern mentality. How many taboos are still current, which are contrary to the spirit of the gospel? Traces of purism and of the Catharist heresy are even today to be found, condemning body and matter.
OOO
Direction: O Sacred Heart of Jesus, living and life-giving fountain of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, and glowing furnace of love, you are my refuge and my sanctuary. O adorable and glorious Savior, consume my heart with that burning fire that ever inflames your Heart. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from your love. Let my heart be so united with yours that our wills may be one, and mine may in all things be conformed to yours. May your Will be the rule both of my desires and my actions. (Prayer for Perseverance, St. Alphonsus Liguori)
Twenty Second Sunday in OT (B)
Deuteronomy 4: 1-2, 6-8 / Psalm 15: 2 – 5 /
James 1: 17-18, 21-22, 27 / Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
TO LIVE A RELIGION OF THE HEART
Word: Today we return to Mark after five weeks with John’s gospel. This passage reveals Jesus’ attitude toward the law of God and his contrasting attitude toward traditions that were insisted upon by the Pharisees. The Pharisees sought to apply to all the people the rules about ritual impurity that the law of Moses required of priests.
Here such traditions come under attack by none other than Jesus himself. 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” (Mk 7:6-8). Jesus retorts forcefully and passionately. He counter-attacks. He uses Scripture to answer those who accuse his disciples (Isaiah 29:13). He rejects the emphasis on these human traditions, especially when they lead to violating the law of God in order to maintain merely human traditions.
Jesus then offers a more general statement about purity and impurity coming from within rather than from what one eats—thus rejecting the Jewish dietary laws. What makes a person really unclean is not what he or she eats but what he or she thinks. Impurity is not in the exterior materiality of an action, but in the heart.
The passage concludes with a listing of some of the kinds of impurity that flow from the human heart: “But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. 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.” (Mk 7:20-13).
o0o
Order: Although Mark suggests that Jesus nullified Jewish dietary regulations, it is important to note that Jesus’ own words do not challenge the validity of the Law itself, but rather what he perceived as hypocrisy on the part of the religious leaders.
The prophets in the Old Testament had often condemned religious formalism. In the eyes of God what matters is not the external gesture, but the heart. Jesus concentrates first on the human heart as the source of activity.
It is not difficult to think of bureaucratic regulations that can take on a life of their own at the expense of the persons they are supposed to serve. Jesus criticizes this tendency of rules and regulations to become more important for those in leadership positions within the church—whether as parish council members, BECs or GSK leaders, lay ministers, servant-leaders or parish priests—to reflect on ways in which we are hypocritical, upholding the law while ignoring the real needs of those we are called upon to serve.
o0o
Realities: 1. At my mountain cabin in western North Carolina, there is a refreshing spring of clean cool water. The oldest resident in the community says that he never knew it to dry up in summer or to freeze over in the winter. The water is pure and good, and the flow is constant at all times of the year. But the spring could become contaminated. This would happen if I let the dense growth above it be removed, or turned surface water into it, or built a stable and kept cattle just above it. No longer would its water be pure and good. No longer would it be desirable.
But I would not allow any of these things to happen to my spring. I keep it with all vigilance, for out of it flows water not only to my cabin but also to the cabins of neighbors. Friends come to see me and drink of water from the spring and an occasional hiker stops by to stake his thirst. For my sake and for theirs, my spring must be keep pure. (E. L. Clegg <Together>, HEART KEPT PURE
—–
2. At my mountain cabin in western North Carolina, there is a refreshing spring of clean cool water. The oldest resident in the community says that he never knew it to dry up in summer or to freeze over in the winter. The water is pure and good, and the flow is constant at all times of the year. But the spring could become contaminated. This would happen if I let the dense growth above it be removed, or turned surface water into it, or built a stable and kept cattle just above it. No longer would its water be pure and good. No longer would it be desirable.
But I would not allow any of these things to happen to my spring. I keep it with all vigilance, for out of it flows water not only to my cabin but also to the cabins of neighbors. Friends come to see me and drink of water from the spring and an occasional hiker stops by to stake his thirst. For my sake and for theirs, my spring must be keep pure. (E. L. Clegg <Together>, HEART KEPT PURE)
—–
3. This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blame Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. (Quote, PASSING THE BUCK)
—–
4. While liturgy is a community honoring of God, He can also be honored all day long. A person who is in constant contact with God can make a prayer out of anything. A cigarette enjoyed can be a prayer.
Lovers speak and communicate to one another without words. True love is wordless; it speaks through action. Have there ever been two people in love who did not sigh? Yes, every movement of the body can honor God.
Recall how refreshing the sensation of cool water flowing over a hot skin is in the summertime. In its way, the skin is thanking God for the wonderful sensation. To rejoice over being healthy is surely a way of praising God, for He is interested in having us healthy and using our bodies for their purposes …
St. Angela of Foligo narrates that once in a vision the Lord told her, “I take pleasure in all you do, whether you are eating or drinking or sleeping. I rejoice when all your bodily organs are functioning well.”
In his book “The Little Flowers,” St. Francis tells us that Brother Mario’s wonderment of God consisted of his constantly saying just: “uuuuu”. And Brother Bernard’s devotion to God consisted in running up and down the mountains and hills.
Behind all these experiences stands the fact that God surrounds us like light and air, like water around a fish. Our problem is that we have lost our instinct for his presence; we never think about it. We have lost our instinct for God’s nearness; we have lost the antenna and have not tuned in on the right channel.
Though God is actually near, he can be afar off. And so contact with him is similar to two lovers who want to hug one another, but can’t get close enough one another because of a window pane between them.
The fault with us is that we are used to getting all our sensations from outside us … and God is within. If we turn inside ourselves, we will find him there. There we can hear him talking to us, especially when we are silent and quiet. (August Paterno, PRAYING WITH THE WHOLE BODY)
—–
5. An attractive widow with three children moved into a certain town, and in a few weeks she was the most talked-about woman in town. She was too pretty; several men had been seen visiting her; she was a poor housekeeper; her children ran the streets and ate at the neighbor’s. She was lazy and spent most of her time lying on the sofa reading. Such was the conversation among the neighbors.
One morning, the attractive widow collapsed in the post office, and the truth soon came out. She was suffering from an incurable disease and could not do her housework She sent the children away when drugs could not control her pain. “I wanted them to think of me as always happy and gay,” she said. “ I wanted to pass away some time alone so they would never know.”
The male visitors were her old family doctor, the lawyer who looked after her estate, and her husband brother. The town was kind to her for the remaining months of her life, but the gossipers never forgave themselves. (Lovanik, RASH JUDGEMENT, GOSSIP)
—–
6. It is not hard to identify situations in church history and in our own times in which human traditions have been given precedence over the law of God. We all tend to get attached to our own customs and to our own ways of thinking, even though they may lead us to violate more basic principles of justice and love. The late Fr. Gerry Pierse, C.Ss.R. has written, “We can find people who are very careful about their devotions and have no problems in treating their maids worse than their pets. Where are those who will travel hundreds of kilometers to see a dancing sun but who make very little effort to live the words of the gospel in their lives.” “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile” (Mk. 7:15). In these words, Jesus introduces an essential principle into ethics. But this principle is still today very far from being respected by our modern mentality. How many taboos are still current, which are contrary to the spirit of the gospel? Traces of purism and of the Catharist heresy are even today to be found, condemning body and matter.