Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 30, 2009 - Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21B-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23]Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me: in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition.
When I was a novice master, one of the questions I had to ask myself constantly was about what was essential and what was simply my preference - my very human preference. Was I teaching what the Order wanted me to teach about Dominican life or was it simply my vision of things. The difference between doctrine and human precepts can be difficult to determine at times, especially when the one giving the doctrine has a high office or is in a place of influence that commands trust, etc. There are two levels that this incident addresses. The first level addresses the nature of the rule in question to begin with. Is it essential truth (doctrine) or it is a human custom that has acquired the force of law (We've always done it that way!) The second level addresses the motives of those who are enforcing the rule or doctrine or custom. Jesus' issue on this occasion with the scribes and Pharisees has to do with meticulous observance of external regulations when the internal motivations are dishonorable. The insistence on these when there was no integrity behind them is what he reacted to, not the observance itself. He also reacted when the interpretation of the law resulted in harm rather than good, for example, when the authorities objected to his healing on the sabbath. Knowing what is essential and seeking it with integrity are challenges to human wisdom, but we can count on God's Spirit for help. You will find some good hints in the second scripture from James, today! "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world." AMEN
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