Homily for Ordinary Time – 22nd Sunday Year B 2015
Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8 • Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23
Introduction
What role does the law play in my relationship with
God? Does observing rules and the commandments
strengthen or weaken my relationship with God?
Today’s readings teach that the law can do either of these things,
depending on how I choose to approach it.
Scripture and Theology
In the first reading Moses speaks very admiringly of God’s
law, saying: “What great nation has
statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting
before you today?” One mark of a great nation is having just laws.
Most non-Americans are envious of the rule of law that more
or less exists in this country. The fact
that presidents can be impeached, governors arrested and mayors prosecuted, is
testimony to this rule of law. Even the
lawlessness that followed Katrina ten years ago reminds us of the importance of
law and order.
And so like many law-abiding citizens, Moses is grateful
that God has given his people clear statutes and commandments. By observing these commandments the people
will live in and take possession of the Promised Land. By observing these commandments they will be
seen by other nations as a wise and intelligent people. Moses is very clear; obey the law and you
will be at peace with God.
But in the gospel, we see another side of the law. There the law is not helpful. The law in question is the law, which required
Jews to purify themselves by washing their hands and their utensils. And the Pharisees accuse the disciples of
Jesus of not obeying this law. But Jesus
disagrees; he suggests that in applying this law, the Pharisees have completely
misunderstood its purpose and are imposing an unnecessary burden on the people.
We have a similar misuse of the law, in one of my favorite
sitcoms, The Big Bang Theory. In this show
about a group of nerdy friends and their girlfriends, Sheldon Cooper stands out
for his quirkiness. Besides his annoying
habit of showing off his book-smarts, Sheldon also lives by a strict adherence
to routine, hygiene and rules. Even his
relationships are based on rules laid down in contracts:
·
There is the roommate agreement with Leonard
that regulates all kinds of things including how long he can use the shower in
the morning.
·
There is the 31-page relationship agreement with
his girlfriend Amy, which regulates in Section 5 under what conditions they can
hold hands.
·
As for the others, their status as friends
depends on how many strikes they have accumulated or on how many Cooper coupons
they have earned.
Like the Pharisees, Sheldon often whips out the agreement,
to remind his friends of their failings, even minor departures from the letter
of the law.
Jesus chastises the Pharisees for misapplying the law in
this way. They have taken what was
originally a well-intentioned tradition, and turned it into a burden for the
people. For the Jews, washing one’s
hands before a meal was not just good hygiene or good etiquette; it was also a
religious activity. It was a sign of
washing away all the impurities that one encountered as they went about the day’s
work, not just physical impurities, the germs, but spiritual impurities such as
hate, infidelity, lies, jealousy, envy and many others.
Jesus concedes that his disciples might be breaking the
letter of this law, if it was even a law at all; but they are certainly not
breaking its spirit. The external sign
of hand-washing by itself, without any inner conversion of the heart, does not
purify one from the internal impurities and evil. These things are found in the heart. Jesus explains that it is hypocritical to pay
mere lip service to the letter of the law, without actually doing the good that
the law intends to achieve. Isaiah and
many of the prophets riled against this hypocrisy in their time, when the
people obeyed the law of offering sacrifices, but did not have in their hearts
that love for God that the sacrifice was supposed to represent.
Christian Life
Aside from government laws we Christians have God’s law
contained in the Ten Commandments of Moses, in the seven commandments of the Church,
in Canon Law, in Liturgical Law and in the general teaching of the Church. Just like for the people of Israel and the
Pharisees, these laws can either enhance our relationship with God or they can stand
in the way. Let me suggest two possible
pitfalls that can make observing the law an obstacle rather than a help: a
mechanical observance of the law and a hypocritical observance of the law.
If when we obey the law, all we are interested in is the
letter not the spirit of the law, we are acting mechanically and failing to
achieve the good of the law. For us
priests and seminarians, this can happen in our approach to the liturgy. In the preface of his book The Spirit of the Liturgy, Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger compares the liturgy of the early 20th Century to a
fresco, almost completely overlaid with whitewash, the whitewash being myriads
of rubrics and devotional elements. The
future Pope Benedict teaches that the only way we can access the true spirit of
the liturgy is by understanding and treating with reverence, its inner core,
which is worship of God and our sanctification.
A story is told about a religious guru and
his cat. When the guru sat down to pray
each evening, the cat would get in the way, as cats often do, and distract the
worshipers. So he ordered that the cat be tied during evening worship.
After the guru died the cat continued to be
tied during evening worship. And when the cat died, another cat was bought for
the temple so that it could be duly tied during evening worship.
Centuries later, books were written by the
guru’s disciples on the religious and liturgical significance of tying up a cat
while worship is performed.
When our approach to liturgical law is mechanical and does
not understand its meaning, we act no differently than the Pharisees or this
guru’s disciples.
A second pitfall to avoid is a hypocritical observance of
the law. We are hypocrites when in
observing the letter of the law we at the same time break the spirit of the
law. How much of the intransigence in the
aftermath of Katrina was caused by officials concerned more about rigid
protocol than about helping those affected by the storm.
St. Vincent de Paul teaches us a better way, showing how
sometimes, we have to disobey the letter of the law, so as to fulfill its
spirit. In the Office of Readings for
his feast on September 27 we hear the following:
It is our duty to prefer the service of the
poor to everything else and to offer such service as quickly as possible. If a
needy person requires medicine or other help during prayer time, do whatever
has to be done with peace of mind. Offer the deed to God as your prayer. Do not
become upset or feel guilty because you interrupted your prayer to serve the
poor. God is not neglected if you leave him for such service. One of God’s
works is merely interrupted so that another can be carried out. So when you
leave prayer to serve some poor person, remember that this very service is
performed for God. Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all
rules must lead to charity. Since she is a noble mistress, we must do whatever
she commands. . . .
Conclusion
During one presentation at IPF in Omaha, the presenter
shared a startling statistic. He said,
that research across all religious denominations, revealed that for about 85%
of people of faith, observing statutes and rules is the primary way by which
they live their faith. Only about 15% of
them live their faith out of personal devotion to their God. Clearly my good friend Sheldon Cooper and the Pharisees
and scribes belong to the 85%.
May our
personal relationship with God be the motivation that drives us to obey God’s
law and to discern those when we must depart from the letter so as to serve the
Spirit of the Law.
