Word to the Wise
Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - Wednesday in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 10:1-10 and Mark 7:14-23]"Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.'
A human group that wishes to preserve its identity and develop a sense of unity and purpose will adopt practices and patterns of conduct that define it. This is true of religious groups as well as others. Sociologists will refer to it as establishing "boundaries." In today's gospel passage, Jesus is dealing with an issue of boundaries. Jewish identity was closely tied to eating or not eating certain foods and not touching certain things like a dead body or pagan coins, etc.. However, these practices became tied to a question of a person's status in the sight of God and not just in the sight of Judaism. We Catholics have our versions of this as well, especially in liturgical matters.
Jesus aims to make it clear that food and other external practices do not in themselves determine a person's relationship to God. it is a matter of the heart and motivation. This issue remained controversial in the church after Jesus' death, as we know from the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 15.
A person who wishes to remain a part of a defined group adheres to the code of conduct that the group establishes. In matters of faith, a Catholic or Jew or Methodist or Moslem or any other member of a religious group has to accept a certain level of conformity, but this conformity is not what determines salvation. It is faith and living in accord with faith that makes the difference. Jesus makes it clear in today's gospel, but I suspect we'll continue to argue the point! AMEN