Expressions Manifest Conversion: Dt 4:1-2,6-8; Js 1:17-18,21b-22,27; Mk 7:1-8,14-15,21-23 (B22)

 

Expressions Manifest Conversion

Dt 4:1-2,6-8; Js 1:17-18,21b-22,27; Mk 7:1-8,14-15,21-23 (B22)

“God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Alleluia.” (DO)

This Sunday, our lectionary returns to Mark’s Gospel after several Sundays in which we heard the Bread of Life discourse from the Gospel of John. Mark includes Gentile Christians in his audience who had no knowledge or experience of Deuteronomic and Levitical laws. Mark introduces Jewish practices to the gentile Christians to observe some of them. Mark presents Jesus criticizing the Pharisees for putting human tradition above God’s Law. The Law tied Israel to God. The observation of the law was religion. The word religion comes from the Latin word ligare meaning “tied to something” or someone.

The Pharisees used the law to attack others instead of as the way to honor God. People could not possibly follow all the statutes and thus would be condemned. Jesus quoted the prophets, “This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Ezek 33:31; Is 29:13). What then is religion? How should people be tied to God? James answers this question (Js 1:27). Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is to care for vulnerable. Who, then, are the vulnerable in our society?

Orphans and widows in their affliction, the physically or mentally challenged, children being preyed upon by the porn industry, people who are struggling with their gender identity, people who are forced to leave their homelands to support their families, people who cannot work and are thus homeless, voiceless because marginalized due to deprivation are to be considered vulnerable. Do you and I recognize such a kind of vulnerable still around us? What sort of vulnerable do we have with us? Are we religious? Are we tied to God? We are tied to God!!

At the end of today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks about the things that defile a person and religion and religious life. It also recognizes the things in the heart that lead closer to God. The virtues like truth, beauty, love and the determination to live for God are really gifts of grace planted within a person. They show their presence when one is generous, truthful, kind, empathetic, and wise. By treasuring these we treasure the presence of God. By treasuring it we cannot but serve his presence in others. Religion that is pure and undefiled is to care for those vulnerable.

The symbol of the Christian is the Cross. The cross is a reminder of the sacrificial gift and love. All that is required of us is to take a close look at our interior attitudes. In our desire to show that we are holy, we might also give much credence to externals, following customs and traditions. Yet, Jesus’ words challenge us. He reminds us that we do not make ourselves holy by our external actions. Rather, we become holy when we allow God’s Spirit to transform us. Our transparent actions should be an expression of the conversion of our heart to God.

“Listen, and understand these traditions which the Lord has given to you.” (DO)