Sunday Gospel Reflection, August 29, 2021: Be doers of the world and not hearers only...

Be doers of the word and not hearers only…

Why do we do what we do?

   The people of Israel lived by the law. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses invites them to hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you do observe. The commandments represent God’s ongoing encouragement to understand who they are as a people, but as importantly, the law is wisdom from God that the people need to keep entering into and learning from and growing in. The commandments are God’s direction for their lives, teaching the people how to be faithful to God. But the people, for their part, must take the law into their heart, absorb it, engage with it, that they might reveal God to the world: Observe them carefully, Moses tells the people, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations and so serve as light to the world, revealing God’s work in you and in your lives. Psalm 15 further details God’s wisdom and commandments: One who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord, the psalmist sings. We are to walk blamelessly and harm no one; we are to bring grace to our world, honoring the Lord and those who fear the Lord.

   In Jesus’ time, the Pharisees and scribes have hardened the law of Moses into 613 commandments that, they believe, must be followed in order to be in right relationship with God. Mark's Gospel speaks of commandments related to purification rites:  the scribes and Pharisees are outraged because Jesus’ disciples do not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands. This is one of many rules that limit others’ lives without making them any better. In response, Jesus quotes Isaiah: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Jesus wants the people to hold not to what makes them comfortable but to what give meaning; we are to be focused on what God calls us to, rather than what human tradition calls us to, and to act on that call.

   The Letter of James states that all we have is gift from God, and that all we have to give in turn is also from God, including God’s Word, communicated to us through Jesus. Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you, James encourages his readers, that the Lord’s grace might flow through us. We must take that Word, along with Jesus’ commandments to love God and one another, to heart; we must let it enter into our very being and transform us. It can only do so if we absorb it and engage it, and then allow it to flow through us, to our world. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class. 
Image source:  www.wordclouds.com 

Sunday Gospel Reflection, September 2, 2018: Be doers of the word and not hearers only...

 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only… 

What use are all these rules and commandments? 

   Communal life has always involved rules.  In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses enjoins the people to hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, and the people must listen not only with their heads but with their hearts, so they can give evidence of their wisdom and intelligence to the nations.  In essence, Moses is asking the people of Israel to reconsider how they live and why.  Psalm 15 enumerates the conduct necessary for one who would like to live in the presence of the Lord, that is, one who is fully open to living according to the God’s Word:  they must do justice, the psalmist tells them.  In both cases, a consideration of society’s rules challenges the people to step beyond what their heads can understand to absorb what their hearts intuit.  Taking in God’s Word means opening to the transformation that God’s word works in us, and living accordingly.

   In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus will challenge the Jewish authorities to reconsider the basis for the many, many rules they have established to govern daily life.  When they ask Jesus, Why do your disciples eat a meal with unclean hands? Jesus responds with a clear understanding of God’s commandment and human tradition’s reinterpretation of that commandment:  This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  In slavish attention to rules without any attention to the meaning behind those rules, the people have lost their connection to God; they are too caught up in tangibles that don’t lead them beyond the surface.  The Word of God, Jesus is saying, must touch the core of our very being, must change us – but it can only do so if we are open to it, if we hear it with our hearts.  And if that Word does change us, the fruits can be infinite, as we will naturally follow James’ advice and be doers of the Word and not hearers only. 

   Rules are indeed necessary to our daily life, but if we only understand them at their literal level, hearing with our heads and not our hearts, we are missing out on that perfect gift that ours, the transformation that God wills for us, and that will ultimately effect salvation for all.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordle.net