DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Deut 4,1-2,6-8; James 1,17-18,21-22,27; Mark 7,1-8,14-15,21-23: Sunday 22: Year B)
The overarching theme of the readings for this Sunday is words spoken in truth. We will consider three aspects of this theme: The words of the covenant, the truth in religious practices, and the word that has taken root in us.
Words of the Covenant
On one level, the laws are the words of the covenant. They are part of the contract that was drawn between God and the people. They stipulate the obligations of this agreement. They are words of truth because they are God’s reliable revelation. They are words of truth because they genuinely reflect righteous living. The biblical covenant laws are truly humane. Although they are explicit in their demands, they do not place impossible burdens on us. Obedience to the words of the covenant leads to life and blessings, while disobedience results in the opposite.
On a deeper level, the laws themselves do not constitute the covenant. They merely arise from the relationship that binds God to us and us to God. They are directives that point the way to righteous behaviour, guides that help us live out our covenant commitment. Chronologically, many of the laws may have been in force before the covenant had been made (for example, Thou shalt not kill). However, they were probably not considered revelatory until the pact was made. The prophets remind us that fidelity to the law is more than rigid conformity. It must flow from within us, from the core of our hearts.
Usually we are born into a group that possesses some kind of religious customs, and as members of the group, we learn them. They always carry some profound religious meaning, but we may not know what it is, or we may not care what it is, or it may have lost its meaning for us—and yet we perform these customs. How many people know why we stand or sit or kneel during liturgy? How many people care? How many people have a church wedding because it is a religious event? Or how many have one because that’s the way we have always done it? This does not mean that the people are not good. It means that the practices do not always flow from a deep religious conviction or from a profound experience of God. Once we realize our need for God, these practices, regardless of how elaborate or how uncomplicated they may be, become genuine expressions of our praise, gratitude, need or repentance.
The Gospel recounts an incident of conflict between Jesus and some of his opponents. The issue that prompted the confrontation is ritual cleansing. Some of Jesus’ disciples were eating their food without washing their hands. Jesus’ rebuttal is swift and incisive. Using a passage from the Prophet Isaiah, he calls these people hypocrites because they were faithful to outward observance of religious practices but makes no linkage to man’s heart, the root and source of man’s being. Uncleanness or impurity are not determined by anything external. What one eats merely passes through the body. Defilement on the other hand, originates from the innermost recesses of the heart. In the same way, good actions spring up from the heart. For in Hebrew anthropology, the heart is the seat of our actions. It is where we reject or accepts worshipping God. When the word of God takes its abode in our heart, everything becomes a religious practice, a concrete sign expressing our total conversion and our worship of God in truth and spirit. This word of God can come to us through the teachings of our faith, the examples of good people around us, and the wonder and mystery of creation. However, it comes, but when it does take hold of us our inner eye is opened, our heart is softened, and we turn instinctively to God like a flower that turns to the sun. When we are brought to birth in this way, covenant law becomes sacred and gives direction, religious practices are cherished and they stand for man’s genuine love for God, and we are thereby filled with the power that saves. May we, therefore, in this Eucharistic celebration, ask the good Lord for the grace to internalize his word that it may take root in us and positively influence our actions. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye.
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