Homily – 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

I’m a law keeper.  I generally like to know what the laws and rules are in the organisation, whether that is in the Church or in general society.  Most rules, of course, have been developed for a good reason.  They often exist to protect peoples rights or to keep us safe or to prevent harm.  From time to time there are disagreements about which rules a society, or a particular organisation, need to have and which need to be enforced.  It is as if there is a hierarchy of laws sometimes.  According to my Google search there are a few obscure laws in Victoria that are still on the books.  Apparently it is an offence to fly a kite ‘to the annoyance of any person’ or sing an ‘obscene song or ballad’ in a public place in Victoria!  It can be interesting to research the reasons why these laws came into being.

The Gospel of Mark (7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23) gives the account of a conflict between Jesus and his disciples, and the Pharisees and scribes of the day.  Mark presents the incident almost as if the Pharisees are spying on Jesus to see if he will follow every letter of the law in relation to cleansing laws: washing of hands, and cups and pots and pans.  They seem to fail the test of the Pharisees scrutiny.  They allegedly do not follow the letter of law by dotting every ‘i’ and crossing every ‘t’.

Jesus does not respond directly to the accusations of the breaches of the law.  Instead, he takes us all deeper.  His response is to join the human heart to the actions we perform.  Both our virtue and our vices are not merely revealed by the keeping of a law.  Our virtue comes from the intentions of our heart.  And with a heart full of the love of God and neighbour it would appear that we cannot go far wrong.  On the other hand, a heart full of greed, pride, avarice and envy will lead to the harming of others, no matter how well we follow the laws of cleansing.

The letter of St James picks up a similar theme this week.  “Accept and submit to the word which has been planted in you and can save your souls.  But you must do what the word tells you and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves.”

By Fr Brendan Reed

Published: 30 August 2024