Commentary
Sunday, 9/2/2018, Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
They Will Want to Be Like Us
First Reading Commentary: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
Have you ever looked at another person and said, “I wish that I could be like them,” or “I wish that I could have what they have?” There is something about that person that everything seems to go their way. They are always happy, don’t seem to have a care in the world and they are as nice to everyone as can be imagined.
They may not be rich, they may not live in a fancy house, they may not own a nice car and they may not even have a car or a good job. Yet and still, they do possess a positive attitude and outlook on life and it radiates everywhere they go and in everything that they do. As a result, others want whatever it is that they have so that they can be just like them.
This is what Moses wanted the Israelites to understand in today’s first reading. He told the Israelites to observe the statutes, decrees and commandments of the LORD carefully and their observance would serve as evidence of their wisdom and intelligence to other nations.
When we stay close to our faith and live our lives according to God’s Will, others see it. It radiates from us and the peace that belongs to us because of our faith; others want. At the end of every Mass, the celebrant or deacon says, “This Mass is over. Let us go in peace.” Sometimes, “To serve the Lord” will be added. We are being told at the end of each Mass to go and do exactly the same thing that Moses was telling the Israelites to do.
No matter what our religion is, when we leave our place of worship and follow the teachings of Moses in this reading, others look at us and wonder and ask, “What is so special about their religion and their church that they are such good people?” Then they say, Maybe I ought to go to that church and see what it is all about.”
The reason why is because they will see in us the answer to these questions that Moses asked the Israelites. First, “For what great nation is there that had gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?” Second, “Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?”
When we take our faith and spirituality with us where ever we go when we leave our place of worship and live according to God’s Will, others see that God is truly with us and that God’s ways must be just. They will want to be a part of that and that is the best way to evangelize.
With all that is going on in our world today and with the Church being under attack as it is, it is necessary that we evangelize by our actions and not by our mouths alone. In other words, we must practice what we preach and actually live according to God’s law and not just preach it.
Thank You God for All That Is Good
Second Reading Commentary: James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
Thank You God for all that is good! Just how often do you say this prayer? Multiple times: a day? Once: a day? Whenever you think of it? On occasion when something good happens in your life? Almost: never? If you are not saying this prayer, or something like it, multiple times a day, each and every day, say, “Ouch.”
Consider this: if we spent every moment of every day saying, “Thank You” to God, we would not even begin to say it nearly as many times as we should. But if we were to try our best to thank God as often as we should, there would be no time to live our lives.
There is a way of showing our heart-felt gratitude to God without using the words. It is a way that will more than compensate for not having enough time to say, “Thank You God” as often as we should. This is the message from St. James today. In today’s reading, St. James gives us three ways of showing our gratitude to God.
1- Welcome God’s Word with humility because the Word can save our souls. The Word is more than just the Word of God. It is God in the person of the Son, Christ Himself, as John tells us in his gospel, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” John 1:14
James is telling us that we cannot show gratitude to God unless we accept God. If we are Christian, believers in the Trinity, then we know that Christ is God the Son. We have to accept Him in order to thank Him. I could probably write a book on this topic alone.
Okay. You testify that you don’t have a problem with that, right? But how many of us believe that our denomination of religion is right and everybody else is wrong? How many of us believe that our denomination is better than the others? Or how many of us believe that the church that we go to is best because other churches have problems, or a minister who does not preach to our liking, or a choir that does not sing the music that we want to hear? You get the drift. It's the sin of pride. Too many of us have lost touch with what the real reason for going to church is—to be fed by the Word!
When Christ said to Peter, “Upon this rock I will build My Church,” He did not put an “es” at the end of the word “church.” Yet and still, we are all God’s children and the way that we choose to profess our faith will not determine whether we get to heaven. Ask yourself, why are there so many different denominations of Christianity? For that matter, why are there so many religions in the world?
The answer is because the devil is quite literally hell bent on trying to destroy everything that God has planned and one of his favorite tactics against us is to divide and conquer. He uses it very well! Think about that before criticizing another person’s religion. Respect and be open to God’s Word no matter when, where, how or from whom it may come to you.
2- Don’t just hear God’s Word but live by God’s Word. Hearing God’s Word involves more than hearing the words come from the mouth of another person. It involves more than reading the words in the bible or another religious publication. One has to truly listen in order to hear the Word of God. One has to absorb that Word and make it a part of them. Only then can one begin to live by the Word.
Living by the Word means that one does not leave church on Sunday and then go out and commit one of these deadly sins: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth. “I would never do any of those things,” you say. I personally will not claim innocence. I have been known to leave church and get raging mad at someone for a doing something stupid while driving. Oops, there is anger! I’ve committed other sins too. Can you claim innocence to all seven deadly sins? Can you honestly say that you never committed any of them and sometimes on the same day that you went to church? If not, say, “Ouch.” If you’ve only committed a venial sin, still say, “Ouch.” It just does not hurt as much.
3- Keep our religion pure and be true to our religion by caring for each other. Simply put, this means to obey the Second Greatest Commandment: Love thy neighbor as thyself. Think about that before ignoring someone who is in need of help or supporting legislation that will take benefits away from the needy or worse yet, supporting legislation that destroys human life. When we care for each other, we let God know in a profound and extreme way that we appreciate all of His goodness.
The suggestions of St. James are not easy to follow simply because sin is all around us and we all fall victim to it. The good news is that God is always with us and He never gives up on us. God knows what is in our hearts and if our heart belongs to Him in spite of our weakness, He will bless us with His mercy and forgiveness. So, say, “Thank you God for all that is good. Amen.”
Do Not Change the Law
Gospel Commentary: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
All of today’s liturgy can be summed up in this way: Accept the Word of God and live by the Word of God but do not be hypocrites like the Pharisees. In today’s gospel, the Pharisees challenge Jesus and as usual, Jesus puts them in their place.
The Pharisees noticed that the disciples did not follow some of the Jewish traditions such as carefully washing their hands before sitting down to eat. The important thing to know is that the Pharisees were not saying that the disciples did not wash their hands at all. It was the specific ritual which was over and above the Mosaic Law itself that the Pharisees were taking exception to the disciples not following.
So, they asked Jesus, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” Jesus answered by asking, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites…” and paraphrasing Isaiah 29:13 He said, “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.”
When Moses gave the Commandments to the Israelites, he said, “In your observance of the commandments…you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.” In other words, “This is God’s law. Do not change it.” All of the things that the Pharisees objected to about the disciples were related to traditions which were put in place that were additions to the law. Therefore, they were not following the law themselves and that made them hypocrites.
So, Jesus summoned the crowd and made the point that all which is bad for us does not come from the outside, but from within. Meaning that the very thought of wrong doing comes from within our minds and our hearts and not from anything or anyone else.
In other words, even the devil cannot make us do bad things. He does his very best to lead us into sin and is very good at it. But in the end, it is with our own free will that we, ourselves, make the decision to sin.
If someone mistreats us or hurts us; in some way and we decide to get revenge by hurting them physically or unphysically, that revenge is not because of what they did. It is because of our decision to get back at them.
If we take something which does not belong to us, it is not because of our need. The sin of stealing is because of our own decision to take something that does not belong to us because of our desire to have it.
If we are together with friends and they get totally drunk or use drugs and we join along, it is not because peer pressure or because they made us do it. It is because we decided to get high.
Anything that we do, good or bad, is a result of our own decision. If we choose to do bad—we choose to separate ourselves from God. If we choose to do good—we choose to follow God. We rarely stop to consider that but we should because every decision that we make is because God gave us a free will. And, God does not interfere with the way that we use our free will. But remember this: if we accept God’s Word and live by God’s Word, we will choose God and be with Him. Otherwise, the only thing that we will have to look forward to is a second death and we will have no-one to blame but ourselves.
