22ND SUNDAY, YEAR B: REFLECTION
THEME: ACTING VS LIVING THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
(Mark 7:1–8.14–15.21–23)
Today, we are presented with the commandments of God handed down through Moses to the people of Israel. Jesus wants us to see what has become of it through the touch of human misinterpretation and manipulation. He condemns the attitude of those who opposed His own followers. He called them Hypocrites. That word in Greek means an actor. Thus, Jesus extols living above acting. He exalts the interior life and condemns the external practices aimed at deceiving the self and people. He emphasizes on what comes from the inside of the man and not just what goes there from the outside. He warns against the real defilement as opposed to the superficial dirt.
He debunks the ‘how we do it’ idea and develops the ‘how it ought to be done’ teaching.
Jesus is interested in our lives. He wants to enter into the core of our lives where the real law is written, but man pushes him outside. Why? The real is inside.
WHO DO YOU FOLLOW?
The commandments are meant to be ordinances we are supposed to follow in life as Children of God. But it is good to know what informs our adherence to a tradition. Which tradition should we follow?
In our attempt to do it the way of God, to live by the spirit of the law, to interpret the codes correctly, various voices speak up. Various forces claim what they are not to convince us to be in their party. We saw it today in this Gospel. The Pharisees and scribes came asking Jesus: Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders?
Jesus must have retorted: Why must they live according to the tradition of the elders? The elders have no tradition. Jesus is the author of the tradition they were talking about here. The so-called elders were those who have become experts in giving the commands of God interpretations outside the mind of God.
Jesus invites us to be like the Apostles by giving attention to the heavenly directives as against the human, mundane, and diabolic laws clothed in white garb. Jesus wants us to look beyond the outside of the cup to know what lies on the inside.
The human desire and the flesh in its weakness trying to find a way out and to distort the command of God gives itself thousand and one reason to break away from the inner voice to focus on externalities.
The world today offers us a lot of good looking rites and traditions to succeed, to scale through, to look good and not be good, to appear to be and not actually be, to package etc. Jesus insists on authentic spiritual life, healing from the root and deep-rooted adherence to His will.
The devil, the first who broke the law by his disobedience, continues to use sweet arguments to lure the heart of man away from adhering to the instruction of God all because He wants to distract us from the right way that leads to our heavenly inheritance.
Jesus wants us today to beware whose voices we listen to, whose command we follow, the source of the instruction that inspires our lives. Over and above all, he wants the law to be a purifying agent for us.
LET’S BE MADE PURE BY THE LAW OF GOD
Jesus is never a breaker of the law. He is only not happy with those who hide under the law as custodians of it to make things difficult for the children of God. In fact, He maintained that He must see to it that no iota of the law is abolished.
We have to learn to make good use of the commandments of God and of man to make ourselves pure and holy before the Lord. We should strive to hold firm the Decalogue, the Church laws, the good traditions of our people with a good heart, in good conscience.
We are encouraged to form good rules of life. Parents and guardians should ensure that the children live according to good family rules and regulations inspired by the scriptures. In our various places of work and offices, we should be law abiding and not pretenders. We should be authentic Christians. We should not be mere actors or eye servers. Let our practice of virtues be real. May we be loving and true. Let doing the right thing flow from us. Let us open ourselves and allow the spirit of the law, the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ visit the innermost places of our hearts to flush away the vices of sexual immorality, envy, theft, greed, murder, wickedness, licentiousness, slander and other vices.
LET US PRAY
We thank You, Lord, for opening our eyes to the commandment that comes from above. Save us from being held down by the sinful traditions of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Grant that we may be real and authentic Christians worshipping and serving You in holiness. May we be drawn closer to you and remain sinless through keeping your commandments through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Happy Sunday (22nd Sunday, Ordinary Time, Yr B)
Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh