Category: Uncategorized

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A reading from the Book of Genesis 3: 1-8:

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals
that the LORD God had made.
The serpent asked the woman,
“Did God really tell you not to eat
from any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman answered the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said,
‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman:
“You certainly will not die!
No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it
your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods
who know what is good and what is evil.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized that they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made loincloths for themselves.

When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden
at the breezy time of the day,
the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God
among the trees of the garden.

The Word of the Lord.

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“When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden…the man and wife hid themselves.”

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Our reading from Genesis describes the first time human beings sin against God. And what do Adam and Eve do?

They run away and hide.

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Perhaps they’re afraid that God will punish them.

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What is my own image of God?

Is he someone whom I must hide from when I sin? Is he out to punish me?

Or is he a merciful Father, who loves me, seeks me out, and wants to heal me?

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God answers this question for us.

As soon as he discovers that Adam and Eve have sinned, he seeks them out. He doesn’t set the garden on fire; rather, he cries out to them, “Where are you?”

God isn’t looking to punish them; he’s looking to dialogue with his children, to help them understand why their actions were harmful, and to show them how to move forward. 

The same is true for us. 

Whenever we sin against God or our neighbors, the temptation is to run away and hide.

But we should run to our Father, instead, particularly in confession, in order to start the process of healing. If it’s been a while, then consider going during Lent.

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“When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden…the man and wife hid themselves.”

But the Lord shows us that we should never hide from him; rather, run to Him who has loved us and given himself for us.

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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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The Native Americans believe there are two wolves living within each of us.

One wolf feeds on things that defile us, which Jesus mentions in the Gospel: pride, selfishness, gossip, anger, judgment, and lust.

The other wolf feeds on virtues, such as patience, humility, forgiveness, kindness, and love. 

The question is, “Which wolf wins?”

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The one we feed.

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When do I feed that evil wolf within?

And when do I feed the good one?

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That evil wolf never dies without a fight, which is why the path to holiness can be difficult. 

It’s not always easy to choose forgiveness over anger; selflessness over selfishness; chastity over lust; or silence over gossip.

But the more we feed that good wolf, the easier it becomes. May the Lord give us the grace we need to feed the right wolf today.

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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’ words were very scandalous at the time he spoke them, because he directly accused the scribes and Pharisees of being hypocrites; phonies.

To be a “hypocrite” originally referred to someone who wore a mask; an “actor on a stage.” 

Jesus applies the idea to the scribes and Pharisees, saying they’re no more than religious actors. 

Their entire practice of religion is like acting, because it’s not led to an inner transformation. 

On the contrary, vesting themselves in robes and filling their minds with laws only hardened their hearts, making them believe they were better than others.  

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Unfortunately, there always will be some who use religion as a cloak. They appear holy on the outside but are unchanged within.

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Certainly, we’re gathered here this morning because we want to know the Lord. We want to be holy. 

So, what does this Gospel have to do with us?

There’s always the temptation to become comfortable with religion, to reach a point where we no longer change within.

Perhaps our prayers have become rote; we say the words without attaching our hearts to them. Or we stop the Spirit from inching us out of our comfort zones. Or we slow our efforts at charity.

But religion is always meant to stretch us; to challenge us to love more, to serve longer, to pray harder, to live more humbly.

Resist becoming stagnant; allow the Spirit to stretch you today.

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