Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Mark 7:14-23

Jesus 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.”

When he got home away from the crowd
his disciples questioned him about the parable.
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 the man, that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his heart,
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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“Nothing that enters one from outside can defile,” Jesus says, “but the things that come out from within are what defile.”

In Judaism, to be “defiled” meant that a person lost access to the Temple, and therefore access to God. In order to remain pure – or undefiled – religious scholars created over 600 commandments that observant Jews needed to follow.

This included everything from the washing of hands and dishes to the treatment of birds. Jesus overrides these commandments, insisting upon one thing only:

Access to God comes through having a pure heart. And, conversely, such access is lost when the heart is darkened and defiled.

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The Native Americans believe in a similar idea, stated in a different way.

They say there are two wolves living within each of us. One wolf feeds on negative things such as selfishness and greed, while the other feeds on positive things like faith, hope, and love.

The question is: “Which wolf wins?”

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Inevitably, the one feed.

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How do I feed that good wolf within? And how do I feed the bad wolf?

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May the Lord give us the grace we need to follow the path of love by feeding that good wolf within.

In so doing, our heart will be purified, allowing Him to draw ever closer to us.

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Image credits: (1) Neighborhood Church Chico (2) Medium (3) One Walk With Jesus

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Gospel: Mark 7: 1-13

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 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 someone says to father or mother,
“Any support you might have had from me is qorban”‘
(meaning, dedicated to God),
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God
in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Jesus doesn’t criticize or condemn Jewish rituals. In fact, he participated in them thoroughly! 

When he was only an infant, Mary and Joseph brought him to the Temple, presenting him to the Lord in accordance with the Law. He also studied the scriptures from an early age – and knew them well.

So well that he separated himself from his family after their annual pilgrimage up to Jerusalem when he was twelve. He then remained in the Temple for three days, dialoging with the religious authorities. 

And, Luke tells us, “all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.” 

Even Christ’s betrayal, death, and resurrection – as well as his Promised Presence in the Eucharist – are built upon Old Testament prophesies and rituals.

Jesus was as Jewish as Jewish gets.

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Yet, the religious authorities accuse him in today’s Gospel of violating the very Law he came to fulfill.

“Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders?” they ask him. It’s a fair and important question.

But, again, Jesus does not criticize their laws. What he criticizes is the legalism, self-righteousness, and exclusivism that has hijacked the authorities’ understanding of their faith.

Whereas the Law was once an opportunity to draw closer to God, it had become a theological prison which, seemingly, no one could get out of. 

This is what the Lord was breaking – their hardness of heart.

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It’s the same thing which Christians, on occasion, must also shake from themselves. It’s important to honor the Lord’s day – worshiping him on Sundays; to strive for moral and bodily purity; to be, “perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.”

But if our understanding of religion only leads to the exclusion and judgment of others, then we’ve lost the whole point.

Christianity is meant to make us ever more compassionate, inclusive and merciful people. This fulfills the Law – loving others the way Christ has loved us. 

How might we do that today?

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Image credits: (1) New Covenant Community Church (2) Woe to You Scribes and Pharisees, Chantal LaFortune (3) TextsinContext, WordPress

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Gospel: Mark 6:53-56

After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country    
and began to bring in the sick on mats
to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today’s Gospel takes place immediately after the disciples spend the entire night in a harrowing storm, crossing the Sea of Galilee without Jesus. 

Frazzled and relieved, they are now safely ashore. I’m sure all Peter and the others wanted to do was pause and take a nice, long nap.

Before they could blink an eye, however, crowds filled with sick and suffering people are pressing in on them, hoping just to touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak. 

How do you think these drowsy disciples responded to the sight of the crowds?

Worn out from the last several hours of stumbling in the dark, did they try to whisk Jesus away in order to rest? Or did they ignore their own exhaustion in order to help others?

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The Gospel doesn’t tell us how they responded, only that Jesus healed every person he touched.

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What a difference it would make if we followed the Lord’s example of patience, compassion, and generosity, in spite of how we might be feeling at any given moment.

Imagine the difference it’d make if we were patient with other drivers on the road, even while in a hurry ourselves.

Or the difference it’d make in our hearts if we readily forgave people who offended us.

If we took the time to listen to our neighbor, even while preoccupied with our own thoughts; if we did the chores; made dinner; or responded to other people’s needs without complaint.

Or, in the disciples’ case, the difference it might’ve made if they brought someone to Jesus, in spite of their own exhaustion.

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As Mother Teresa once said, “Christians are called to love until it hurts.” 

How might we feel that pinch today?

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Image credits: (1) Church Sermon Series Ideas (2) Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt (3) Saint Mother Teresa, X