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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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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This week, most of our children will begin a new school year.
On the first day, everything is new. Children have new books, new backpacks, new clothing, new lunchboxes, newly sharpened pencils, maybe even a new laptop – all of which is meant to give them a fresh start.
But new books do not ensure new learning. A new backpack does not guarantee kids have emptied out old burdens. New clothes do not make a new student.
Although new things may provide motivation, ultimately, it’s what’s inside a student’s mind and heart that determines their success or lack thereof.
***
In today’s Gospel, Jesus sternly rebukes the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day.
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,” he says, “as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me.”
Jesus is not criticizing the rules they follow.
In fact, many of these laws, although man-made, were important for the preservation of the Jewish faith, culture, and identity while they were living under the oppression of the Roman Empire, whose gods and culture were vastly different from their own.
Everything from keeping the Sabbath to ritually purifying their hands was part of being Jewish.
Jesus rebukes them because it was easy to keep the body clean, without making the connection to purifying one’s heart. That is where sin and grace are found. “And their hearts,” he says, “are far from me.”
If the Jews can celebrate their religious practice without ever engaging the deepest part of themselves, then what might happen after the Lord institutes the new, eternal covenant of the Eucharist?
***
For the last five weeks, we read through chapter six of John’s Gospel, commonly referred to the “Bread of Life Discourse.” There John revealed Christ’s identity as, “the living bread come down from heaven.”
Then, at the Last Supper, the disciples are given the Eucharist as the new, eternal covenant, with the command, “Do this in memory of me.”
Mark has also been building this logic in his Gospel, having already mentioned “bread” multiple times. But today he adds an interesting detail.
In the original text, the Pharisees do not ask Jesus why his disciples eat “meals” with unclean hands; rather, they ask him, “Why do your disciples eat bread with unclean hands?”
Mark is exposing the subtle tension present within Christ’s own inner circle. While most of the disciples are trying to honor the Lord, as any faithful Jew should, Judas has already begun plotting his betrayal.
At the Last Supper, he will be the one eating bread, not with unclean hands, but with an unclean heart. As the Lord himself will say in a stunning rebuke that night, “Not all of you are clean.”
Mark uses this as a warning to all of his listeners, including us, to wash ourselves of any sin prior to approaching the table of the Lord.
In particular, he warns us against the sins which Jesus mentions in today’s Gospel: evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, malice, deceit. All of these are interpersonal sins, affecting our relationship with our neighbors, and more importantly, with God.
***
Perhaps this is what the Lord is asking us to ponder this week. What state are we in spiritually as we approach the altar of the Lord and eat the “living bread come down from heaven”?
Every Sunday, we come to Mass. We sit, stand, and kneel. We can do these things externally – much like our ancestors washed their hands – without ever engaging the mind and heart.
It takes real effort and grace, in the words of Saint Augustine, “to become what we consume.”
Yet that is what the Lord desires from us: to become more and more like him.
***
This week, students begin another year of school – and everything is new. New books, new backpacks, and new clothes. But none of these externals guarantee new learning. It’s what’s within the student that counts.
So, it is with us.
Following the Lord is not a matter of mere rules or rituals – blessing ourselves with holy water, sitting, standing, kneeling, or washing our hands. Our religious practice must seep deep into our hearts.
As James exhorts us in our second reading, “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.”
May we welcome Jesus, so that the Lord may live – not only on our lips – but, above all, in our hearts.
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Image credits: (1) Holy Name of Jesus (2) Camp Blue (3) AAAComputer4Christ, WordPress.com
