XXII Sunday of the Year

CLEAN HANDS VS A CLEAN HEART

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Readings for the XXII Sunday of the Year

Imagine a youngster playing his/her first piano piece. S/he has memorized the piece perfectly; holds his/her hands in perfect position; hits all the proper notes with deadly accuracy. S/he plays music, but nothing that will start voices singing or feet tapping. The heart’s not in it, only the fingers.

 

We “do” many “religious practices”. Often only our fingers, not our hearts, are in them! 

The readings of today remind us that religion is not about externals and about fulfilling obligations; it is living God’s word from and with our hearts.

 

In the first reading, Moses urges the people to be faithful to God’s laws, which expressed their relationship with God. Over the years, the elders added numerous regulations to govern every action and every situation of life. The focus moved from love to the exact external fulfilment of the law; from relationship to ritual.

 

It is one of these numerous “traditions” that the disciples did not follow: they ate their meal without the ritual washing of their hands. 

The dialogue between the Pharisees and Jesus highlights a crucial difference between two mind-sets. For the Pharisees, religion was a performance, a meticulous carrying out of external regulations without concern for attitudes. For Jesus, religion was a matter of the heart; about love of God and care of neighbour. 

This is also the thrust of the second reading: true religion is listening to and acting on God’s word and caring for the weak and oppressed.

Like the Jewish elders, we can make religion a ritual affair while our hearts far from God and neighbour. The attitudes that motivate our actions, the way we associate with our neighbour… this is the heart of religion.

 

Today’s readings invite each of us to undergo the “heart test” to reveal who and what I am before God and before neighbour. To what do I give importance: clean hands or clean hearts; ritual or relationship? Is my heart in all that I say and do?

If not, I need to bring on the heart sanitizer!

XXI Sunday of the Year

STAY COMMITTED

Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Ephesians 5:21-32 or 5:2a, 25-32;

John 6:60-69

Readings for the XXI Sunday of the Year

A few weeks before the 1924 Paris Olympics, a member of the USA canoe team, Bill Havens, faced the toughest decision of his life: his wife was expecting their first child about the time of the event; should Bill go to the Olympics or be with his wife? His wife urged Bill to go but he decided to be with her. 

The US won the gold medal. Ironically, the child was born much after the due date; Bill could have competed and returned in time for the birth. But he had no regrets. He had made a commitment to be with his wife always; He was faithful to that commitment.

Bill Havens’ story is a powerful illustration of commitment to our choices.

The first reading describes the covenant renewal before the Israelites entered the promised land. Joshua gathers the people, declares his choice to serve God, and asks them to make their choice. The people make their choice: “We will also serve the Lord, because he is our God.”

In the second reading, Paul urges husbands and wives to be faithful to their marriage commitment. This fidelity is based on Christ’s fidelity and love for his church. 

In the gospel, Jesus offers his apostles the choice to be with him or to join the ranks of the deserters. He had been popular as the wonder worker, the healer, the feeder of the multitude! Then he started talking tough. Many disciples were confused about his teaching about the bread of life, then found it intolerable/unacceptable, and finally chose to leave him. 

Jesus gives the Twelve a choice: to remain with him or to leave. Peter tells Jesus that they cannot turn to anyone else. They have made their choice and remain committed to it.

The liturgy challenges us to stay committed to our choice for God… every day. 

Do I remain faithful to God in times of difficulty or do I “no longer go with him”? Am I faithful to my commitments? In what aspects do I need to deepen my commitment to God and my family?

A sequel to the Bill Havens’ story! 

Twenty-eight years later, Bill received a cablegram from his son, Frank, from Helsinki, the venue of the 1952 Olympics: “Dad, I won. I’m bringing home the gold medal you lost while waiting for me to be born.” Frank Havens won the gold in canoe-racing, a medal his father had dreamed of winning but never did because he lived his commitment.

There is a sequel to our commitment stories too! May we stay committed!

The Assumption of Our Lady

CELEBRATING HUMAN LIFE AND DIGNITY

Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56

Readings for the Solemnity of the Assumption

I came across a book “A Child Called It”. It is the autobiography of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his mother. She considered him not a son, but a slave; not a boy, but an “it”. Dave’s clothes were torn rags; his food was spoiled scraps that dogs refused to eat. He had no one to whom he could turn; his dreams kept him alive – dreams of someone loving and caring for him, of being treated as a human being. 

The story of David Pelzer is the story of many. The book’s publisher, Trevor Dolby, said: “We get ten letters a day from people saying the book mirrors their childhood.” 

The story of David Pelzer is the story of our world. We seem closer to one another than ever before. In fact, we live in “anonymous proximity” in a depersonalised society; we treat one another as “its”.

It is this context of a depersonalized society that we celebrate this Solemnity of Mary’s Assumption and our Independence Day.

The Assumption means that Mary already experiences the union of glorified body and soul; she already shares in Christ’s resurrection. It points to and anticipates a gift to all believers. We too will one day share in Christ’s resurrection as complete persons.

Perhaps more important than the “what” of the Assumption is the “why” of the declaration of the dogma. In the declaration, Pope Pius XII stated that the previous fifty years had seen the loss of several million lives in the Armenian genocide, the two World Wars and the Holocaust, and the Russian Revolution. He deplored the destruction of human life, the desecration of human bodies, and the loss of reverence for the God-given identity of every human being, and intended “that the celebration of the Assumption of Mary might make clear the sacredness and the high destiny of every single human person.”

The horror of the last century is not over: violence and terror attacks; communalism and caste discrimination; oppression of the poor and the weak; racial profiling and hate crimes; women and children being raped – we hardly treat human beings as persons. 

We need this solemnity, which “makes clear the sacredness and the high destiny of every single human person,” more than ever before.

Our celebration of the Solemnity of the Assumption is a challenge and an invitation to treat every human being with respect and dignity. When we can do that, we can call ourselves free!

XIX Sunday of the Year

BREAD FOR THE JOURNEY

1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:30—5:2; John 6:41-51

Readings for the XIX Sunday of the Year

A senior citizen went to a restaurant every day for lunch, and always had soup. One day the manager asked him how he liked his meal. He replied: “It was good, but you could give me more bread. Two slices isn’t enough.” 

The next day the manager told the waitress to give the man four slices, then eight. Still not enough! The manager told the waitress to give him a whole loaf. But the senior citizen wanted more! 

The manager wanted to satisfy this customer. The next day, he ordered a huge loaf of bread from the bakery, cut the loaf in half, and served it with the soup. The senior citizen came for lunch and devoured the soup and the huge loaf. The manager—hoping he had finally satisfied the man—asked: “How was your meal today, Sir?” He replied: “It was good, but I see you’re back to serving only two slices of bread!” 

Bread was important for this senior citizen… like it was for Elijah and the people of Israel.

In the first reading, Elijah—fleeing from Queen Jezebel—came to a broom tree, sat under it exhausted. He asked God to take his life. But God had more in store for him and fed him with bread. Strengthened by that bread, Elijah walked forty days and nights (symbolizing a life span) to mount Horeb. God gave him bread for his journey. 

In the gospel, the people—concerned only about material bread—follow Jesus even after he has satiated their physical hunger. He tells them there are other hungers which he alone can satiate. He is the bread of life that sustains them on their journey of earthly life and to eternal life.

Bread is vital for us. God knows the journey that each of us travels. He knows that, like Elijah, we often must flee from forces that seek to destroy us: addictions and sicknesses, materialism, the pressures and pretensions of a godless society. He knows that often that, like Elijah, we want to say: “This is enough.” God sustains us and nourishes us with bread for our journeys.

In moments of “exhaustion” when I say “this is enough”, will I allow God to touch me and strengthen me? Will I eat the bread of life and journey to my mount Horeb?