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

Jesus and Jim were walking around in heaven. They saw Jim’s parish where the Eucharist was being celebrated. Something puzzled him: he could see the priest move his lips, the lectors read, the choir sing, and the organist thump the keyboard. But he couldn’t hear a sound. Was there something wrong with the amplification system or with his ears? Jesus explained: “We have a rule that if they don’t do things on earth with their hearts, we don’t hear them here at all!”

We “do” many “religious practices”; often our hearts are not in them! Today’s readings 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 while our hearts are 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 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; 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.”

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!

XX Sunday of the Year

MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE!

Proverbs 9:1-6; Ephesians 5:15-20; 6:51-58

Readings for the XX Sunday of the Year

In 1982, Johnson & Johnson learned that bottles of Tylenol sold in Chicago had been laced with cyanide and had left seven dead. CEO James Burke chose to pull every bottle of Tylenol off the shelves nationally and design a tamper-proof bottle. He did not have to do it; he could have pulled only the bottles in Chicago. That move cost J&J $100 million but won them scores of loyal customers.

Our choices affect our destiny!

The first reading portrays wisdom as a woman who sends her servants to invite people to her banquet. Subsequent verses describe Dame Folly who invites passers-by to her meal of stolen bread and water of deceit. Banqueting at the feast of Lady Wisdom brings life and new perception; eating at the table of Dame Folly brings death.

In the second reading, St Paul gives the Ephesians three “be-attitudes”: be wise, be sober, and be thankful. 

On Justice Sunday, these are “be-attitudes” we must choose: be wise to understand that the cause of injustice and oppression is our selfish quest to grab more for ourselves; be sober in using the goods of the world so that there is an equitable distribution of the world’s resources; be thankful for God’s blessings. 

In the gospel, Jesus contrasts the manna in the desert with the bread that he gives: the manna not eaten within the day had to be thrown away; it was no longer good. After Jesus fed the five thousand, the disciples gathered twelve baskets of fragments; Jesus gives (and is) bread which lasts. He is the new manna that lasts forever and gives us everlasting life. “Whoever eats this bread (a choice!) will live forever.”

What are the choices I make: Am I wise, sober and thankful? Am I satisfied with the junk food with “empty calories” the world offers or do I feast on Jesus the living bread?

May you and I make the right choices; they affect our destiny!

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 for lunch and always had soup. One day the manager asked him how he liked his meal. He replied: “Good but you could give me more bread. Two slices aren’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, and asked God to take his life. 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 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 Horeb?

XVIII Sunday of the Year

CRAVING SOMETHING MORE…

Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35

Readings for the XVIII Sunday of the Year

The book “Acres of Diamonds” narrates the tale of Ali Hafed. Hafed, a wealthy Persian, owned a large farm with orchards, fields, and gardens. He had a lovely family and was a contented man.

Contented till an old priest told Hafed that if he had a diamond the size of his thumb, he could own a dozen farms. Hafed asked: “Where can I find these diamonds?” The priest said: “Search for a river that runs over white sands between high mountains. In those sands, you will find diamonds.”

Hafed went to bed discontented. Craving diamonds, he sold his land, and travelled the world… till he became so broken and defeated that he committed suicide. 

Sometime later, the man who purchased Hafed’s farm led his camel to the garden brook. As the camel drank, the man noticed a flash of light from the white sands of the brook. He dived into the brook and pulled out a glistening stone. He had discovered the diamond mines of Golconda.

Had Hafed remained at home and searched his own land, he would have had “acres of diamonds” instead of wretchedness and death in a strange land. 

Whether fact or fiction, Hafed is a symbol of everyone who is discontent with what one has, who constantly seeks “something more”, a search which invariably/ inevitably leads to disappointment and frustration.

Hafed is a symbol of the Israelites during their journey to the Promised Land. In Egypt, they longed for freedom. In the desert, they yearned for food and water. When Yahweh provided them manna, quails, and water, they craved novelty. Israel’s story is a story of craving and dissatisfaction.

Hafed is a symbol of the crowds – in today’s Gospel – who “came… looking for Jesus” searching for bread to fill their hunger. Jesus led them gradually to the truth that their search would find fulfilment in him. Like their ancestors, they remained dissatisfied with what he offered them, and sought something more.

Is Hafed a symbol of me? Am I content where I am and with whatever I have? Does my hunger for contentment and meaning find fulfilment in Jesus the Bread of Life or do I search for “diamonds” everywhere when the greatest treasure is with me? 

May I realise and discover the “acres of diamonds” I have all around me.