29 August 2021
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
This is the second week of our new homily series
called:
Does this shock you?
Jesus says and does some shocking things in
Scripture that can take us by surprise. It may even make us rethink who
Jesus is and how we relate to him. With some of the things Jesus says you
may hear people quip, “I didn’t think Jesus would say something like that!”
In our Gospel today, Jesus takes the religious
leaders, specifically the Pharisees, by surprise. In this passage Jesus
references the book of Isaiah (29:13) when he says:
“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.”
What did he say? This would have really knocked
the Pharisees over. What is Jesus referring to?
The Pharisees and other religious leaders of the
day had added on to the Law of Moses, even though Moses himself told them not
to. So they were telling the people for years that you have to live the
Law of Moses plus, whatever the law or teaching they were adding to it.
It wasn’t just an inference from the law but an addition to the law.
Jesus is not angry with the Pharisees because
they are overly scrupulous about obeying God’s law. He is upset with them
because they have disregarded God’s law for their own additions of human
tradition.
The laws that they added, even though Moses said
not to, would have been at the least benign and most likely helpful if the
Pharisees had not become fixated on the keeping of these laws above all else,
specifically to the neglect of mercy and faith. Outward regulations are much
easier to keep than inward purity of mind and heart, so that’s what the
Pharisees focused on.
The point of the law was to teach the right
ordering of the soul, whereas the Pharisees believed, it was materially what
happens to the body that defiles the person.
In actuality it was the interior act of the soul (what comes out of the
heart) that defiles.
The truth is our thoughts precedes our
actions. What we think is what we do. That’s scary to think about.
This gospel verse caused me to look in the
mirror and examine my heart and actions big time! If Jesus were to stand before
us today, would He say, “Woe to you!”? Would He point out that we praise Him
with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him? Do we go to Sunday or daily
Mass but fail to see the mystery of the ordinary becoming extraordinary? Do we
live our lives and use the resources we are given for our glory or for God’s?
To take it a step further, as the Gospels have
been calling us to do this week, do we look at the outward appearance more than
we look at the posture of the heart of the people God places in our care daily?
Are we aware of the words that form in our hearts and mind and come out of our
mouths as we speak to those we come in contact with especially our family and
friends? Just think about the conversations we hear and participate in at the
office or with our friends. Would Jesus participate in those conversations, or
would He walk away, or would He have a “Pharisee moment” with us where he calls
us out for our behavior?
This Gospel is calling all of us out in one way
or another. Whether it’s one of the things listed by Jesus in the Gospel or
something else that is coming from within our hearts, Christ is forcing us to
change our heart and mind before our words and actions.
It is with this same conscientiousness that we
should examine ourselves from the inside out to reconcile with God, because he
is calling us to serve.
Life-giving behavior begins with control of the
interior life, with the regulation of one’s thoughts and feelings. Not to
serve begrudgingly; or out of guilt; but with pure motives from a heart full of
love for him. How we serve says a lot about our heart. When we
don’t serve, that says something about us as well. Our service though is
not as much about the outward action as it is about our interior
motive.
To find the reason to be motivated to serve God
we should watch out for the things that shouldn’t be our motivation.
Things like: feeling guilty for not praying enough or not giving enough; or
just because you were raised Catholic or going to church; or for your own goals
because you are in trouble or you need something from God.
What should motivate us to serve our God and
parish community? Well, there is really one thing that should: love. Love
is why we care for our spouse and our kids or family; love is why we do things
we don’t want to do sometimes like go to work or clean the dog poop up off of
the floor so someone else doesn’t have to or empty the garbage can in the
kitchen when it is overflowing. Love can bring us joy in those things
that we might not normally want to do or think to do. Without love, we
lose the whole purpose for service.
Scripture tells us God is love, which means, we love better when we know
God better.
We spend good portions of our life to find
purpose. Here’s the catch: you don’t need to find purpose in life. You
already have purpose. You don’t have to do things to earn God’s love or
favor. You can’t. God loves you already, and because of that you
are very valuable to Him and His mission. Because we are loved by Him and
in relationship to Him, we have purpose. If we don’t serve God in some
capacity, what does that say about our heart?
How are you serving our parish community?
If you are serving, thank you for what you do. If you aren’t, then take a ministry card which lists the most immediate needs of our parish community, and take a few moments now to prayerfully consider being a part of a ministry. When you are finished filling it out, put it in the offertory basket as it passes by today. You can also sign up online, right now if you like, by going to www.saintmary.life/serve. We will take a few minutes now to do that.
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