Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the gospel passage for today Jesus is being criticized by the Pharisees for not following the tradition of ceremonial washing before he eats. Jesus responds to his critics by essentially calling them hypocrites—that is, they criticize others of doing the very thing that they themselves do. As an example of this Jesus mentions that the Pharisees allow people to decide not to take care of their parents by saying that the money that they would have spent on their parents belongs to God instead. This practice is allowed because it is a tradition. So in the name of tradition the Pharisees allow people to break one of the Ten Commandments – namely the command to honor one’s father and one’s mother.
I am tempted when I hear Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees to think that he is talking to someone else. It is easy to think, “That that was then and this is now,” to decide that Jesus’ words don’t apply to me and that they are directed at the Pharisees alone. But this is not true.
Jesus’ words in the gospel for today present those who hear it with a challenge. It is not enough for us to perform the outward observance of a religious law, traditional practice, or moral code if in doing so we set up a barrier between us and God. Notice that Jesus is not saying here that it is bad to follow tradition. In fact tradition presents us with learning and wisdom from the past that help us greatly in discerning how to live out our lives as Christians. Instead he is saying first, that tradition is not enough and second, that it is wrong and hypocritical to elevate tradition above the teachings of God for how to live. (Jesus himself said that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.) If we truly desire to follow Jesus then we are called to internalize his teachings so that they become a part of us and do not remain just an external code of conduct. Only in this way can they take root in our hearts and affect a change in our thoughts, and words, and deeds.
The parable that Jesus tells illustrates this point vividly. Jesus states that it is not what someone eats that makes them unclean but what comes out of them. This point is specifically addressed to the question of the dietary rules of the Mosaic law. But there is also a lesson for us in it, too. Our deeds flow from our inner spiritual state. If our hearts are oriented positively towards God, we will do good, but if not, then we will do the opposite. Today we have the chance to reflect on the ways that we have failed to internalize Jesus’ teachings so that they become a part of us. Let us pray for the grace to follow him not just in our outward practices but that our hearts will be converted as well, so that we have the chance for a fuller and deeper commitment to following Jesus.
- Joel Schickel