SCRIPTURE
Mark 7:1-23
Man-made traditions vs God’s law
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 unwashed, hands. For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands,* keeping the tradition of the elders….
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 human precepts.as doctrines.
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 may have had from me is Corban, meaning it is dedicated to God.
You allow him to do nothing more for his father and mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on….
He summoned the crowd 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.” When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about this.
He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
“But what comes out of a person, is what defiles. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, un-chastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”
YOU NULLIFY THE LAW OF GOD IN FAVOR OF HUMAN TRADITIONS
REFLECTION
There are man-made laws and God’s law. Which are better for us to obey? Is it worth getting the praise of our friends and society for following the trends of today? Is popularity going to get us into heaven where we want to go?
Do we hedge our bets? Maybe I can get away with this but not that? Will God overlook this and that on judgment day? Or will we hear, ““How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition!
Traditions are nice. They can bring families together at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. But traditions are generally humanly sourced. A man once asked his wife at Thanksgiving why she cut both ends of the ham off before cooking. She said her mother always had. Of course the context is her mother back in her day did it to fit into the cooking pan she had available.
Washing our hands is important especially now in this pandemic. But we don’t know what the circumstance was when Jesus’ disciples, without washing their hands, were eating. Maybe there was no water available. I am sure they didn’t do it just to aggravate the Pharisees.
Jesus points out to the Scribes and Pharisees they are nit picking by selectively supporting human tradition while disregarding God’s law to honor their parents. Aging Parents were heavily dependent on support of their children. Corban, a man-made tradition, “I would like to help but I have dedicated everything to God,” gave these hypocrites an out, an excuse, not to spend their money in support of their parents.
Jesus, also, takes this opportunity to teach a lesson on the source of evil in this world. It is not something we take in but is already present in our hearts. “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, un-chastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. If our hearts are separated from God so will our actions be.
MAY OUR HEARTS BE IN UNION
WITH THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
SCRIPTURE
Mark 7:31-37
He has done all things well
Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis.
People brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. Jesus took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”)
And [immediately] the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.
Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and [the] mute speak.
HE HAS DONE ALL THINGS WELL.
HE MAKES THE DEAF HEAR AND [THE] MUTE SPEAK.”
REFLECTION
Jesus is foretold as the Messiah, the anointed one by God in the book of the prophet Isaiah, “Be strong, do not fear!… your God, he comes with vindication; With divine recompense he comes to save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall see, and the ears of the deaf be opened; Then the lame shall leap like a stag, and the mute tongue sing for joy.” Isaiah 35:4-6
In the New Testament, Jesus confirms that He is the one the nation of Israel have been waiting for. John the Baptist, while in prison, sends his disciples to Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?….Go tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them, blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” Luke 7:19-23
Jesus arrives in this world not with fan-fare but born in a stable attended by shepherds and their sheep.
So it is not surprising that Jesus took the deaf mute aside from the crowd. Jesus has no need to boast or show off. Do we boast of our good deeds? Only God is good. Only the grace of God results in good actions on our part. Remember what St. Paul said in 2nd Corinthians, “Whoever boasts should boast in the Lord.”
What has always surprised me about this miracle is Jesus touching the ears and rubbing spittle on the tongue of the deaf mute. I like to think Jesus who is human and divine knows how important sense experience is to the human being, hearing, seeing, touching etc Jesus uses human touch to reveal Divine mystery.
Praise be Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior!
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