Sunday, September 30, 2012

How Exclusive is Your Religious Club?


The 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel

Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

At that time, John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us." Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"

When I was a young child, I can remember being taught that there was no salvation outside the Catholic Church. Back in the 60’s we were even told that we shouldn’t walk past a public school on our way home because some sort of temptation lurked there and we might lose our immortal soul. God forbid we should enter a Protestant Church! This had come to a head for me when I wanted to join the brownie scouts. The only brownie meeting was held in the basement of a Protestant church – I don’t even remember today what kind of church it was. I had to really fight with myself to go to that first meeting. I remember that part of the meeting was the Lord’s prayer, and that they tacked on an ending to it that I had never heard before. I remember being frightened that saying a prayer with them, I was leaving my soul open to immortal flames.

 As an adult, I look on all this as quite ridiculous, but it was the culture many of us were brought up in, in the 50’s and 60’s. I wish I had been taught differently and to be a bit more open, but I think that is the tendency of all organized things – to think they are the best and that anyone not with them is against them.

Jesus’ disciples were no different. John was upset that someone who was not of their group had been seen driving out demons in Jesus’ name. It is interesting to note that even this early – remember, Mark’s Gospel was the first – Mark has John say that the man driving out demons was not following “US”. He didn’t say, not following Jesus. he said not following “US”. Even at that early time, there was an identity established, that the disciples felt that they had authority and only anyone acting under their authority could do Jesus’ work. Sounds very similar to what I was taught in elementary school, doesn’t it?

Yet Jesus’ answer to them is quite revealing. It is reminiscent of the Bible story that we first heard today from Leviticus. Even in Moses’ time, the idea of exclusiveness was there. The group of chosen men who went with Moses to the mountain were upset because someone who was not one of them was doing prophecy. Moses’ reply to them was “Stop being so jealous that outsiders can prophesy as well as you. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone could be a prophet that God’s spirit could descend on everyone!

Jesus’ reply to the disciples echoes these very words of Moses: Don’t stop this man from casting out devils in my name. If he is casting them out in my name, then he is my friend and will not be able to speak badly of me. Whoever is not against us is for us.” This saying gets reversed and the meaning changes somewhat in Matthew when Matthew has Jesus: Whoever is not with me is against me. You can see how that changes the original message of Mark quite a bit.

It is also interesting to me, historically, that by the time Acts was written, we see an example of someone trying to cast out devils in Jesus name was not successful. Had exclusivity surfaced this early in the newly formed Church?

In any case, Jesus seems to be stressing here that” there is no place for exclusivism among those who invoke the name of Jesus”. Jesus finishes by saying that anyone who does a good deed in his name will be rewarded for it. These words should certainly help us in our understanding of other Christian faiths in relation to our own Apostolic Catholic faith. Our father’s house has many rooms!

The second part of the readings today return to the teachings of Jesus. The Gospel especially is worded quite strongly and any literalist had better beware. Jesus is trying to make a point and so he uses a device called hyperbole. However, before we get to that, Jesus first talks about scandal, especially the scandal of children or vulnerable people. He minces no words when it comes to talking about sin. According to the Catholic catechism, scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. (2284-85) Jesus uses hyperbole here – exaggeration – to make his point. The person who scandalizes might better have a millstone tied to his neck and be thrown into the sea. Drowning was often a Biblical punishment for God’s enemies, remember. Think of Pharaoh and his armies in the Red Sea.

 Then Jesus goes on with even greater hyperbole. Jesus’ thought moves from ‘scandal of another’, to things personal which can cause one to sin. If any part of the body leads one to sin, cut it off. While he does not mean this literally, we can think of times when it would be literal. For example many people have had amputations when a limb’s disease threatened the whole body. In order to live there had to be an amputation. In this context, Jesus is reiterating what the new kingdom will be like, and sin is not an acceptable entry into the kingdom. We must avoid things which lead us in to sin just as we must avoid leading others into sin by our actions or words.

The Second Reading by St. James is another reminder that one of the greatest blocks to entering the kingdom is riches. This is such a constant theme in the New Testament that it amazes me that so many Christians can just ignore it. The Bible is not saying it is bad to be rich or to have nice things – it is saying that if you are well off, you need to help those who are not well off. Riches are not an end. If they become one, as James, says, you better enjoy your riches and happiness here, because it won’t be waiting for you later. This is a constant theme of Jesus through out the Gospels. I read an article on the debate over health care in this country the other day that impressed me because it used the Christian context. It saw health care as an obligation – it was simply the sharing of those who have with those who have not. Seen in that context, it is a wonder that any Christian could be against it unless they are just selfish. It was a controversial article but made its point very well.

So today’s readings have many themes and much for us to think about. How can we have a healthy attitude toward sin, begin to look at those things in us which are unhealthy and cause us the most problems. We are all inclined to one sin or another. We don’t have to cut off an eye or arm or leg, but we do have to cut off or at least try to curb those things which lead us to sin, whether it be alcohol, internet porn, too much ambition, too great a love for money. None of these things will help us get into God’s kingdom, so we must work on it in a healthy, positive way. Jesus has sent the spirit to us all. We can get help. We are loved.

St. Valentine Faith Community
Mass: 10AM Every Sunday
2670 Chandler Avenue
Suite 7 & 8
Las Vegas, NV 89120
702-523-8963 Rev Sue Provost, Pastor

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. " (1 John 4:9-10)

Saturday, September 22, 2012

You must be the Servant of All to be First



The 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
                                          Gospel
                               Mark 8:27-35

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise."
But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me."


Last Sunday readings focused our attention on the mystery of the Cross in order to understand who Jesus is. In the Gospel of last Sunday, the disciples misunderstood the identity of Jesus and so Jesus took the opportunity to tell them his true identity by foretelling his suffering, death and resurrection.

This Sunday, Mark in the Gospel takes us back to the same theme of the Cross, but this time, in terms of discipleship that implies powerlessness and vulnerability. That is the best way to understand our discipleship. Rather than giving us any privileged positions, discipleship renders us powerless and vulnerable in the perspective of the cross. The Gospel is on the second prediction of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. Jesus was teaching the disciples and telling them, “the Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” But all that went over their heads. They did not understand, and Mark adds, “they were afraid to question him.” Why did they fail to understand? Mark reveals that “

They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.” Aha! They still see Jesus as a conquering Messiah who liberates Israel and establishes an earthly kingdom. In that sense, they were discussing about who would be the Vice President in that kingdom; power positions. Jesus takes the opportunity to teach them that he is a "Serving Messiah".

 Following Jesus is about serving others rather than about power positions. If we wish to be first, we must be prepared to be last; if we wish to be great, we must be prepared to be like little children; if we want to be leaders, we must be prepared to be servants of all. Jesus used the example of little children because during his time children were symbols of “non-persons”, without any power and often unprotected. Children were therefore symbols of powerlessness and vulnerability. Jesus reminds us today that rather than being concerned about positions of power in the Church, we should be more concerned about those without power and the most vulnerable in our midst.

As in today’s Christian community, ambition and jealousy were also among the close followers of Christ, making it difficult to understand Jesus’ call to a life of service and suffering. Jesus offers a clear catechesis on Christian leadership as humble service. “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all”.

As Christians, we are called to a humble service that involves a spirituality of service; a spirituality of powerlessness and vulnerability. So what message do we take home?

1) Our discipleship, our call to follow Christ the "Serving Messiah" is a call to powerlessness and vulnerability and not to a position of power and authority;

2) We are called to leadership of humble service that involves the possibility of the cross not comfort;

3) We must be very weary when discussions in the Church are about positions rather than caring for those without power and the most vulnerable.

How then can we apply this to our lives this week? Can we do one unselfish thing for others this week that gives us no return on that investment? Can we become a servant for someone else this week, expecting no reward, except being close to Jesus? Who is comparable in our society to a child, someone with no status and no power, someone helpless? Can we do something hospitable to that person? That is the challenge this week given by Jesus the Teacher – the teacher who always surprises us and makes us look at our value system and realize, as was pointed out to Peter last week, God’s ways are not our ways. 

                                
St. Valentine Faith Community
Mass: 10AM Every Sunday
2670 Chandler Avenue
Suite 7 & 8
Las Vegas, NV 89120
702-523-8963 Rev Sue Provost, Pastor


"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. " (1 John 4:9-10)

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Who do you say that Jesus is?


The 24nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
                                         Gospel
                      Mark 8:27-35

Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" They said in reply, "John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said to him in reply, "You are the Christ." Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the gospel will save it."


“Who do you say that I am?”

When we fall in love with a person, do we not want to know all about them? Do we not want to know if our impressions of that person are true? Doesn’t being love entail knowing everything we can about a person?

The disciples loved Jesus, so surely they wanted to know all about him, to understand him. But that understanding was very difficult because ‘who Jesus was” did not quite fit the normal expectations and understandings. He didn’t act in ways that were understandable or even natural to them. He taught the Apostles things which seemed to go against their typical way of doing things. He told them to turn the other cheek, to love their enemies, to take the side of the poor. So, saying who Jesus was, was very difficult, and it must have been a long process for Jesus’ followers to try to understand it. We have seen all along in Mark’s Gospel that the Apostles just were not getting it. By this point in the Gospel, however, they had come a much farther way. Peter was able to say that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. And that was true. And Jesus was pleased with Peter. But, being Jews, their perception of a Messiah was very different from the actuality of what Jesus actually was. And so, while they answered the question correctly, when Jesus attempted to explain to them what He meant by a Messiah – someone who must suffer and be rejected, and even to die, it did not fit into their concept of a Messiah.

And so Peter tries to straighten Jesus out. Peter rebukes him. “What are you talking about? Suffering? Rejection? Death? What part can these ever play in a Messiah?” And in his turn Jesus rebukes Peter for his misunderstanding. Jesus replies to Peter in the same way that he replied to the devil when the devil tried to tempt him in the desert: “Get behind me, Satan”. What he means is: Don’t be a tempter. Don’t tempt me to take on the world’s idea of a Messiah, but allow me to follow God’s idea of a Messiah. Jesus really bursts Peter’s bubble. Peter, who had just been praised by Jesus for his answer, now according to Jesus, is thinking not as God thinks, but as humans think. And that apparently is not good!

I really love this story of Mark’s. Most especially in the Gospel of Mark, Peter is portrayed as the one apostle that Jesus raises to leadership, but at the same time Peter screws up so often that I find I can really identify with him. Despite the fact that Jesus gives him the keys to the kingdom of heaven, Peter messes up when he tries to walk on water, he misunderstands the transfiguration, totally misinterpreting it, he denies Christ three times and later on is even criticized by St. Paul. Yet despite this, Jesus placed his trust in him. If Peter can mess up that badly and Jesus can still put his trust in him, there must be hope for me!

The thing is, Peter never let any of these failures stop him in his quest to follow Jesus. And Peter is eventually successful in spreading the Good news of Jesus. Just like Peter, we all seem to mess things up at times. We make bad decisions, we don’t really understand, but the lesson here from Mark is that Jesus will be patient with us, he won’t give up on us. He may let us know we are wrong, but he wants us to keep going till we find the right path.

What are my Satans? What are the things I don’t understand about being a Christian? What do I do when I don’t get what Jesus is saying to me each week in the Gospels? What Jesus is asking you to do is not give up. He trusts us enough that he knows we will eventually figure it all out. And the reason we don’t give up is because he is there for us. We want to know him and by knowing him we will love him all the more. In the fifties, a very popular Phil Spectre song by the Teddy Bears went: “To know, know, know him – is to love, love, love him, Just to see him smile, makes my life worth while. To know, know know him, is to love, love love him, and I do.”

Then Jesus continues his teaching by bringing in the crowd of followers and says the enigmatic words: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses it for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”

These lines, it seems to me, are somewhat anachronistic. When Mark was writing his gospel, he knew that Christ had died on the cross, and he knew that fellow Christians were being persecuted and killed because they were Christians. These words were probably put into Christ’s mouth here by Mark to give hope to the Christians at the time he was writing. But it is still certainly in the spirit of Christ’s actual words.

Denying oneself can be seen as not putting off things that are difficult or distasteful in our lives because we know it will lead to something better. We endure pain and tiredness when we exercise because we know it will be good for us. Similarly we must do things we might not ordinarily do or want to to do in order to come into the fulness of Christ. It is not easy to give of what we have to the poor, to take time to visit the sick or the other acts of mercy. To come to mass each Sunday to be a strength to our fellow Christians. The reading of St. James today tries to show us that faith and works go together. If we have true faith and love in Christ we will deny what is difficult for ourselves, and we will achieve something better.

Taking up our cross also is embracing or using the suffering the happens to us. I was reminded of St. Theresa of Liseux who would not even brush away a fly that was on her face and annoying her, but instead offered the annoyance to God. It can be something that simple. Something that gets us out of ourselves. The suffering servant in the first reading puts up with all sorts of suffering, insults, bruises and shame. But he sets his face like flint, knowing that God will make all things right and he will be the better for it. Deep love and deep pain can change us, can deepen the person we are.

In the end, none of us individually can end the sin and suffering that exists in the world today, but Jesus tells us that by taking up our cross, by losing ourselves, we can follow a different path. We can do little things that can reduce the pain and suffering of others, we can let go of our egos and trust in God, and leave things in God’s hands more. This is how we can take up our crosses daily.

Who do you say Christ is? What kind of a relationship do you have with Him that you can even answer this question? What is it that Christ is asking you to do this day, this week? What kind of a cross can you bear? The answers are in today’s readings. And if you mess up the answer the way Peter did, know that God is patient and will wait for you to get it right. ----

St. Valentine Faith Community
Mass: 10AM Every Sunday
2670 Chandler Avenue
Suite 7 & 8
Las Vegas, NV 89120
702-523-8963 Rev Sue Provost, Pastor

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. " (1 John 4:9-10)

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Ephphatha! To be Opened


The 23nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel

Mark 7:31-37

Again Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, "Ephphatha!"-- that is, "Be opened!" -- And immediately the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, "He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

Ef'-a-tha, ef-a'-tha (Ephphatha): Aramaic word used by Christ (Mark 7:34), the 'ethpa`al imperative of Aramaic pethach (Hebrew pathach), translated, "Be (thou) opened"; compare Isaiah 35:5. The Aramaic was the sole popular language of Palestine (Shurer, History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, IIg, 9) and its use shows that we have here the graphic report of an eyewitness, upon whom the dialectic form employed made a deep impression. This and the corresponding act of the touch with the moistened finger is the foundation of a corresponding ceremony in the Catholic formula for baptism.

 Today’s gospel is about Jesus healing a deaf person. He uses the word EPHATA. It means, ‘be opened!’ It is a very physical gospel… We often say that the human person is capable of God. But engaging God in the Hebrew Scriptures is a very physical thing. We have to open our eyes and see, to open our ears and listen, to open our mouth and speak, to open our nostrils and smell, open the pores of our skin and touch. Yes, see God, listen to God, speak to God, smell God, touch God in nature…

You have to ‘open up’ all your senses to do that… In the gospel stories of Jesus’ healings, Jesus is also very physical. He doesn’t just give people a verbal blessing and they are healed and that’s it. He doesn’t just impose hands on them. He puts his finger in the deaf man’s ears, and says EPHATA.: OPEN UP. He takes his own saliva and puts it on the man’s tongue, and says EPHATA : OPEN UP. He breathes out and his breath enters into the man’s nostrils, and he says EPHATA : OPEN UP. He looks up to heaven and guides the man’s eyes there, and he says EPHATA : OPEN UP. And yes, he does impose his hand on the man, and the man is touching God in Jesus, and Jesus says EPHATA : OPEN UP.

All the senses are involved. If only they were open, they would be aware of God… We don’t tune in to nature enough. We are too closed to its possibilities and its processes. We don’t sense the unexpected places it is going…. We assume it is all a closed system. A closed system doesn’t interact with its environment, and everything flattens out within it, until it lapses into complete inertia. But something is saying EPHATA to nature, at least every few months… It is an open system, interacting with everything around it, coming up with new things that don’t fit what used to be, presenting us with novel information all the time, becoming more and more complex and intriguing…

A father wanted to teach his four sons the lesson of not judging something or someone too quickly, (and not assuming they were closed systems), and so he called his four sons together and said, “I have a task for you. I want you, my eldest son, to go out into our fields and take a look at the pear tree and come back and tell me what your evaluation is of its condition.’ So the eldest went out and saw the pear tree. But it was winter, and the son saw the tree on a harsh winter day and reported back and said to his father: ‘I see nothing of promise about the tree. It appears old, and gnarled and has no blooms on it at all. I doubt it will survive the winter.’

Three months later the father sent the next eldest son out in the spring to evaluate the pear tree. The son came back saying ‘The tree is very beautiful, with white blooms, but it seems purely ornamental, it has no fruit, nor any sign of bearing any. I doubt if it will be of much practical use to us.’ Something had said EPHATA to the tree, but no one appreciated the outcome.

Three months later the father sent the third from the eldest son out in the summer. The son went out to see the tree and came back reporting: ‘the tree seems to be growing and doing well, and it is full of leaves, and I could see some fruit, so I picked one and tasted it, but it was bitter, not fit for human consumption. I doubt it will prove of much use to us.’ Again, something had said EPHATA to the tree, and again, no one appreciated the outcome.

Finally, three months later the father sent his youngest son out to see the tree once more. This time the tree was full of ripe beautiful golden and red pears. The son tried one and came back with the glowing report: ‘Father, we must come quickly for the harvest is upon the tree, and it is heavy laden and needs us to pick the pears for they are ripe and delicious now.’ EPHATA had been said to the tree again, and this time there was someone who did appreciate the outcome.

 The father called his four sons back together, and said ‘You see each of you have observed well the condition of the tree at a particular season of the year, but your judgment of the tree was only partial, and made too quickly based on what you saw on only the one occasion. See to it that you never judge human beings in this way. Never evaluate them too quickly or on the basis of one encounter, for it is unfair and unwise. Indeed all living things should only be evaluated over the course of time and after repeated careful inspection, for who knows but the ugliest and most unproductive of living things might some day turn into the most beautiful and fruitful.’ The father knew what EPHATA meant, and had heard it spoken to nature. Many times. In many seasons.

When are we going to hear EPHATA said to us human beings and to the social systems we live in? If they could open up, they would not be closed any more…. If we could open up, we would not be closed any more…. ----

St. Valentine Faith Community
Mass: 10AM Every Sunday
2670 Chandler Avenue
Suite 7 & 8
Las Vegas, NV 89120
702-523-8963 Rev Sue Provost, Pastor

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. " (1 John 4:9-10)

Sunday, September 2, 2012

The Heart of the Law


The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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."

What a wonderful thing it would be if we could wash our sins away in the shower; if we could become pure in God’s eyes with the right kind of soap! Unfortunately, even the ‘deep-cleansing’ concoctions which teenagers use to rid themselves of troublesome skin problems just won’t reach down deep enough to get rid of sin.

The Pharisees and Scribes of today’s gospel were pre-occupied with ritual purity which centered on the external action of ritual washing. This involved a complicated washing of fingers, hands and arms according to tedious regulations which sometimes became laughable in their solemn trivial-mindedness. As the gospel says: The Pharisees, and the Jews in general, follow the tradition of the elders and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow; and on returning from the market place they never eat without first sprinkling themselves. There’s something sadly amusing, even humiliating, about that phrase 'sprinkling themselves' chosen by the translators of the Jerusalem Bible.

Others put it more kindly as 'purifying themselves'. In any case, this concern for purity embraced the washing of cups and pots and bronze dishes, as well as cutlery and even beds. So these Pharisees and Scribes asked Jesus: Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands? When you've been doing something for many years you somehow cease being able to imagine that it might not be right, or no longer appropriate. Well, before we go to Jesus’ response we have to understand a little more of these ‘traditions of the elders’ and why he found them so reprehensible.

The truth is that they were not God’s laws but man’s laws. They had begun, as with most religious abuses, from a good intention; they were intended to bring the ordinary activities of human existence into the realm of worshipping God. In other words, they were meant to ‘sanctify’ or ‘make holy’ the everyday household activities as acts which praised God. However, like the trimmings on the Rosary, these regulations grew and grew, until they actually became impossible for an ordinary Jew to fully observe.

Only the idle rich had the time and money to do so and gradually a ‘them’ and ‘us’ mentality developed among the Pharisees and Scribes. Because they kept the ‘traditions of the elders’ they thought themselves righteous in God’s eyes, whereas the ‘others’ were not. Jesus found this attitude entirely repugnant and exclaimed: This people honors me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless; the doctrines they teach are only human regulations. You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.

Significantly, Jesus called the people to him. The teachers of the Law had failed the people and so now he fulfils the prophecy - they will all be taught by God (John 6:45) - and tells them: Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean. For it is from within, from men's hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.

Through this teaching Jesus placed purity and righteousness back within the reach of the 'little man', of every human being, even pagans. A similar motive caused him to clear the Temple in Jerusalem of all the trading and money-changing that was happening there in the Court of the Gentiles, the Outer Court. Jesus wanted the Temple to be a place of prayer for every human being but the traders had deprived the Gentiles of this quiet place of prayer as they had deprived the poor of the possibility of righteousness. Prayer, like cleanliness of the heart, is possible for everyone.

Ritual cleanliness was possible only for the rich and the idle. Moreover, Jesus showed the Pharisees and the Scribes that their cleanliness was really no cleanliness at all. They had external cleanliness which did not reach their inner selves. Naturally, they did not like to hear this. The apostle James, who we will have for the next 3 weeks asks: Where do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? Isn’t it precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves (hearts)?

If all sin comes from the heart, from our inner selves, then the battleground of the spiritual life must also be the human heart. If we are to have peace, love, forgiveness, purity, faithfulness and so on in the world, we need to have peace, love, forgiveness, purity, faithfulness and so on in our hearts. Any external actions we do, even actions that are good in themselves, if they do not have their origin in good hearts, make us hypocrites and corrupt our hearts even further. That was what was wrong with the Pharisees. They were like the smile of an air hostess I once saw – a ‘paid’ smile, with no joy behind it. Jesus said: This people honors me only with lip service, while their hearts are far from me.

Clearly, to be considered good in the eyes of Jesus our good actions must come from good hearts; we must be converted in our hearts.

St. Valentine Faith Community
Mass: 10AM Every Sunday
2670 Chandler Avenue
Suite 7 & 8
Las Vegas, NV 89120
702-523-8963
Rev Sue Provost, Pastor


"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. " (1 John 4:9-10)