Word to the Wise
Tuesday, February 9, 2016 - Tuesday in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 8:22-23, 27-30 and Mark 7:1-13]"How well you have set aside the commandment of God to uphold your tradition....You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on." [Mark]
Jesus aims the criticism quoted above at the religious authorities of his day, the scribes and Pharisees. He specifically notes the practice of failing to support parents by declaring that any resource the offspring had was dedicated to God and therefore could not be used to help ailing parents, which would practically nullify the fourth commandment to honor father and mother. This was just an example. What the scribes and Pharisees were really doing was to enrich themselves by elaborate "casuistry" - interpreting and manipulating the law (in the worst sense).
In our day, we speak of "loopholes in the law." There are many examples both on the individual and corporate level. Fundamental values are set aside for the sake of profit and greed by individuals or corporations while wrapping themselves in the pious excuse that there is nothing "illegal" about what they are doing. They may even invoke the U.S. Constitution to justify their behavior! The current example of pharmaceutical firms raising prices astronomically on medications that have been around for years is just one. Elderly people living on fixed incomes or the "working poor" suffer.
The problem infects our church as well. Pope Francis quotes a couple of examples in his recent book. The use of canon law to justify pastoral behavior that harms rather than helps is what Jesus is pointing at. Our church needs to understand the difference between divine law and our own convenient (and sometimes necessary) rules. We Catholics, individually and as communities, could well benefit from a complete examination of our "rules and regulations" to determine if they actually preach the gospel or impede it. AMEN
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