22^nd Sunday Year B: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima

Theme: True vs false obedience to God's commandments

Readings: Deut. 4:1-2,6-8; James 1:17-18,21b-22,27; Mk 7:1-8,14-15,21-23

Dearest brothers and sisters, today, the twenty-second Sunday of the ordinary time, the church invites us to rethink our obedience to the commandments of God; to re-evaluate our approach to what God commanded us to do in his commandments. It is in this regard that the readings of today direct our attentions to the best way to obey God’s commandments for our salvation and for the good of our neighbours. They call our minds to what true religion truly is. It is not simply a scrupulous, external observance of rules, laws, traditions, and rituals. It is a loving, obedient relationship with God expressed in obeying His Commandments, worshipping Him, recognizing His presence in other human beings, and rendering them loving and humble service.

All adventures (businesses, sports, education, and journeys) in this world have laws or rules that guide them. To be successful in these adventures, obedience to their laws is sacrosanct. In the same way, the first reading of today tells us that our relationship with God is also rules-based, and that progress or success in this relationship is dependent upon our obedience to these rules given by a faithful God.

In this first reading, Moses urged the people of Israel to be obedient to the commandment given to them by God. He said to them: “obey all the laws that I am teaching you, and you will live and occupy the land the Lord is giving you. Do not add anything and do not take away anything.” According to Moses, faithfulness to these laws would lead to the following consequences: First, it would help Israel to survive as a people in the land of promise; Second, it would make the people of Israel proud of their God and His Covenant; and third, it would make their neighbouring nations to marvel at the graciousness and justice of the God of Israel, at His closeness to His people, and at their closeness to Him. These nations will praise Israel as truly wise and intelligent people.

However, failure to obey the commandments of God would lead them to doom. We know how Israel suffered under great nations because of their disobedience to the commandments of God. Dear friends, we live in a world where many people are meticulous in obeying the state laws and the laws of the secular organizations they belong to, but they want a freestyle when it comes to obedience to the commandments of God. This is appalling. The church reminds us that obedience to the commandments of God should be sacrosanct in our lives, and it is, in fact, indispensable if we are to enjoy a good relationship with our God. Do we know these commandments? Have we stopped obeying some of them? Have we allowed ourselves to be deceived by those who play down on the seriousness of the commandments of God? These are questions to be answered personally.

Dear brothers and sisters, while true religion or true relationship with God requires obedience to the commandments of God, it also requires our recognition of God wherever we find Him. Whoever is in a good relationship with God should be able to recognize God’s presence in heaven, in the church and in his fellow human beings. Failure to recognize the face of God as such has led many people to false religion and false relationship with God. This was the point Saint James raised in the second reading of today.

Saint James gives us the wonderful formal definition of true religion or true relationship with God. He defined true religion as translating the love of God or stepping down obedience to God into deeds of loving kindness toward the vulnerable members of our community and putting into practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. More specifically, true religion means that one is to “care for orphans and widows in their afflictions and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.” Thus, dear friends, if I am in a true relationship with God, I must also see the face of God in the Poor, in the immigrants, in the sick, in the hungry, in the abandoned old people and children of our society, in my husband, in my wife, in my children and my friends. If I cannot see God in these people, it means I do not know God.

It was on this account that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in the gospel of today. The Pharisees are the teachers of the laws and commandments of God, but what they regarded as true observance of the laws of God was obedience to the external laws and rituals. They concentrated on the letters of the law and never cared about the spirit of the law. Consequently, they were blind to the needs of the poor, the hungry, the afflicted, the widows and orphans in their midst. For them, true religion only meant being present in the synagogue every sabbath (just like attending Holy Masses everyday only), reciting their prayers in the synagogues and on the street corners, respecting the dietary laws (as we saw in the gospel of today), and other external religious observances. While these acts of piety are good, they are not enough. They must be combined with charity and sensitivity towards other people, especially to the needy.

Jesus, then, used the opportunity to teach us what should be in the heart of those who have a true relationship with God. The heart of true worshippers of God should be the dwelling place of God and charity towards fellow human beings. But Jesus noticed that the hearts of many people who claim to be in a good relationship with God have instead turned into a dwelling place for impurity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us cast these evils away from our hearts and then let us re-enthrone God and charity towards others in our hearts. This is true religion; this is true relationship with God.

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima

PUSC, ROMA

22^ND SUNDAY, YEAR B: HOMILY BY FR. JUSTIN ADIELE

THEME: "BELIEVE AND PRACTICE THE WORD OF GOD"

INTRODUCTION:

A visitor in Poland was being shown around by a party official during the communist era. The visitor asked the official; “Are you Catholic?” and the official replied; “Believing, but not practicing.” As their tour progressed, the visitor also inquired of the official; “Are you a communist?” The official smiled and said; “Practicing, but not believing.” Funny enough, many Catholics and Christians are like this official; believing, but not practicing the Word of God, and practicing some human traditions while not believing in them for the salvation of their souls.

 

THE FIRST READING (DEUT. 4: 1 – 2. 6 – 8)

In the first reading, Moses taught the people of Israel the wisdom, the understanding, the greatness, the righteousness, the blessing and the beauty in the words, statutes and ordinances of God. They are wise, great, blessed and happy; those who keep them and do them; they are even admired and praised by other nations. It becomes really unfortunate and worst of ignorance when you do not believe and cherish what you have, what even other nations/people admire; the words and commands of God; the words that are more precious than gold and silver, and sweeter than honey. (cf. Ps. 19:10; Ps. 119:72)

 

THE SECOND READING (JAM. 1: 17 – 18. 21 – 22. 27)

In the second reading, St. Paul continued to extol the beauty of God’s Word which we hear every day. He identified the word of God as the word of truth which makes us first fruits of God’s creation; which is able to save our souls. But first, we must believe and make honest efforts to be doers of the Word and not only hearers of the Word. When we hear the word of God and do it, we are made a new creation unstained from the sins and wickedness of the world, and also made bona fide heirs to the perfect gifts from heaven above and heirs to the kingdom of God at last. But when we choose to ignore the Word of God, we lose/miss out from lots of heavenly gifts and blessings in our life.

 

THE GOSPEL READING (MK. 7: 1 – 8. 14 – 15. 21 – 23)

In the gospel reading, Jesus detested the Scribes and Pharisees for priding human words, customs, traditions and ordinances above the words and ordinances of God. Practicing God’s words and ordinances keeps us inwardly (heart and mind) clean. But practicing human laws and ordinances (not all human laws) only keeps us outwardly clean but rotten on the inside.

 

CONCLUSION

Today, we are called to really believe and practice the word of God we hear every day. The word that calls us to righteousness and holiness; the word that calls us to truth and justice; the word that calls us to love and sacrifice for the good of one another; the word that calls us away from every wrong doing against God and humanity; the word that brings us into the light and glory of God.

Happy Sunday!

Fr. Justin

 22^ND 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