The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite critical reflection on how our action towards others shares the inner gift from God of Love and Law.
Love and Law
In the reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses commands obedience and declares the advantages of fidelity.
Or what great nation has statutes and ordinances that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?1
Psalm 15 asks who shall abide in God’s Sanctuary?
* [Psalm 15] The Psalm records a liturgical scrutiny at the entrance to the Temple court (cf. Ps 24:3–6; Is 33:14b–16). The Israelite wishing to be admitted had to ask the Temple official what conduct was appropriate to God’s precincts. Note the emphasis on virtues relating to one’s neighbor.2
The reading from the Letter of James exhorts us to be doers of the Word.
* [1:19–25] To be quick to hear the gospel is to accept it readily and to act in conformity with it, removing from one’s soul whatever is opposed to it, so that it may take root and effect salvation (Jas 1:19–21). To listen to the gospel message but not practice it is failure to improve oneself (Jas 1:22–24). Only conformity of life to the perfect law of true freedom brings happiness (Jas 1:25).3
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus teaches how to observe the tradition of the elders.
* [7:1–23] See note on Mt 15:1–20. Against the Pharisees’ narrow, legalistic, and external practices of piety in matters of purification (Mk 7:2–5), external worship (Mk 7:6–7), and observance of commandments, Jesus sets in opposition the true moral intent of the divine law (Mk 7:8–13). But he goes beyond contrasting the law and Pharisaic interpretation of it. The parable of Mk 7:14–15 in effect sets aside the law itself in respect to clean and unclean food. He thereby opens the way for unity between Jew and Gentile in the kingdom of God, intimated by Jesus’ departure for pagan territory beyond Galilee. For similar contrast see Mk 2:1–3:6; 3:20–35; 6:1–6.4
Molly Mattingly notes that the psalm and second reading describe how wisdom and flourishing looks in the world where those who follow God’s law, who welcome the word of truth planted in them, act for justice. They care for the vulnerable and suffering. They do not harm each other or speak ill of each other. Following God and experiencing the love of God always leads outward into sharing that love with others. As we mature, we begin to understand that the fruits of God’s law are more important than the rules themselves.
However, being human, it’s easy to mistake the rules and structure for the goal. The goal is to grow closer to God; most of us need a discipline or practice to help us do that, both individually and communally. But we do not worship the discipline. We worship God. This is what Jesus taught when he saw the Pharisees’ reaction. He saw that their attachment to the rules did not bear the good fruit of justice and compassion, but rather became a way to put others down and build themselves up. In the end, God’s law is love, and leads to love.5
Don Schwager quotes “Keeping one's own heart with all watchfulness,” by Origen of Alexandria, 185-254 A.D.
"These things are what 'defiles the person' when they come out from the heart and, after they have gone out from it, go through the mouth. Thus if they did not occur outside of the heart but were held by the person somewhere around the heart, not being allowed to be spoken through the mouth, they would very quickly disappear and the person would not be defiled any longer. Therefore the source and beginning of every sin is 'evil reasonings.' For if these reasonings did not prevail, there would be neither murders nor acts of adultery nor any other of such things. Because of this each one ought to keep one's own heart with all watchfulness. (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11.14-15)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 comments that litmus tests can make things clear and simple, but the Pharisees were using them in the wrong way. To determine what was pure and impure, they needed to focus on what was lurking in their own hearts, not what was contaminating them from the outside. As Jesus warned them, it is “the things that come out from within”—our own sinful inclinations—that defile us (Mark 7:15).
Our rules for hand washing today are aimed toward preventing disease, but we can easily fall into the same habit as these Pharisees did. We can focus more on what’s on the “outside”—the culture or the actions of other people—rather than facing the sinful desires in our hearts. After all, it’s painful to see just how capable we are of falling into sin. It’s easier just to apply a litmus test to the sins of the people around us. Jesus came to save us from sin, and we can count on him to give us the grace to deal with whatever is “within” us. Today, ask the Lord to search your heart. Ask him to help you see ways in which you are susceptible to sin—and ask him to keep cleansing you. “Jesus, purify my heart today!”7
Friar Jude Winkler explains the gratitude of the Israelites for the Law in an ancient world where the action of the gods generated fear. Our expression of faith is showing love in our actions for the “widows and orphans” who cannot care for themselves. Friar Jude notes that the scrupulosity of the Pharisees distracts from the transformation of our hearts to worship God as we are and as we hope to be.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares that he attended Catholic school where the reward/punishment, perfection/achievement system was used to maintain order. The God he was presented with was no unconditional lover, but that was the whole Catholic world in the 1950s. Reality was shaped by a God who is punitive. It made for conformity and very little disruption since we were all agreeing together to abide by the same laws.
Until I went to seminary, no one had taught me how to clean the lens of my awareness and perception. Studying the philosophy of Franciscan John Duns Scotus (1266–1308) for four years had a profound effect on me. Duns Scotus taught (admittedly in rarefied Latin) that good theology maintains two freedoms: it keeps people free for God and it keeps God free for people. The harder task is actually the second, because what religion tends to do is tell God whom God can love and whom God is not allowed to love. In most church theology and morality, God is very unfree. I know now that love cannot happen except in the realm of freedom.8
The Spirit leads us on a journey that respects our freedom to live in a loving relationship with God and those to whom we are commissioned to serve.
References
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