＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8

 And now, Israel,

Listen to the norms and laws which I teach that you may put them into practice. And you will live and enter and take possession of the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you.

Do not add anything to what I command you nor take anything away from it. But keep the commandments of Yahweh, your God, as I command you.  If you observe and practice them, other peo­ples will regard you as wise and intelligent.

When they come to know of all these laws, they will say, “There is no people as wise and as intelligent as this great nation.”   For in truth, is there a nation as great as ours, whose gods are as near to it as Yahweh, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?  

 And is there a nation as great as ours whose norms and laws are as just as this Law which I give you today?

 

Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5(1a)

The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27

 Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of Light, in whom there is no change or shadow of a change.   By his own will he gave us life through the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of offering to him among his creatures.

 So get rid of any filth and reject the prevailing evil, and welcome the Word that has been planted in you and has the power to save you.

 Be doers of the Word and not just hearers, lest you deceive yourselves. In the sight of God, our Father, pure and blameless religion lies in helping the orphans and widows in their need and keeping oneself from the world’s corruption.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊    

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

 One day the Pharisees gathered around Jesus and with them were some teachers of the Law who had just come from Jerusalem.   They noticed that some of his dis­ciples were eating their meal with unclean hands, that is, without washing them.

Now the Pharisees, and in fact, all the Jews, never eat without washing their hands for they fol­low the tradition received from their ancestors.  Nor do they eat anything when they come from the market without first washing themselves. And there are many other traditions they observe, for example, the ritual washing of cups, pots and plates.

  So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but eat with unclean hands?”   Jesus answered, “You, shallow people! How well Isaiah prophesied of you when he wrote: This peo­ple honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.   

The worship they offer me is worthless, for what they teach are only human rules.  You even put aside the commandment of God to hold fast to human tradition.”   Jesus then called the people to him again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand.  

 Nothing that enters one from out­side can make that person unclean. It is what comes out from within that makes un­clean. For evil designs come out of the heart: theft, murder,   adultery, jealousy, greed, maliciousness, deceit, indecency, slander, pride and folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Read: Jesus activities are closely scrutinized by the religious authorities. They point out that his disciples are not following the rituals described before eating. Jesus in turn tells them that their  human traditions are getting in the way of their true following of God. Then he admonishes his disciples to take care of their inner purity rather than the observance of outward purity rituals.

Reflect:  Jerusalem is the spiritual center of the kingdom of Judah in the South, composed of two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. The ten other tribes split from them and took the name of the Kingdom of Israel in the North with Shechem as the first capital and, later on, Samaria.

It is no wonder then that many religious leaders belonging to the Southern Kingdom would go to Jerusalem to visit the temple, study to finer  points of the law and the prophets, and consult on religious matters with the experts who abounded in the temple.

On this occasion some teachers of the Law joined the Pharisees in their confrontation with Jesus. The crux of the matter is that Jesus' disciples do not follow the law of ritual purity. They do not wash their hands before eating.

On a normal day, Jesus would probably shrug off the criticism and counsel his disciples to follow the Law of the ancestors. But he saw an opportunity to teach the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. Inasmuch as they are preoccupied with the external purity, they too must put equal importance on inner purity.

The two classes of religious authority immediately understood that. The tables were turned against them and they knew that what Jesus said was true. That is why they are angry. The truth hurts.

Respond: How do we hold with regard to external religious practices on the one hand, and that which matters most, the transformation of the heart on the other hand? Perhaps we might want to scrutinize ourselves to see whether we equate goodness with mere following of the law, or whether we regard compassion and mercy, the tangible results of a heart obedient to the Lord, as the most important.