I don’t know about you, but I have always worked at a place that had a dishwasher. Even though this was the case, there was always that guy (and yes it usually was a guy) who thought he was doing us a favor when he swished his pate and fork in the sink with the proverbial three-week-old smelly kitchen sponge and tossed them into the drying rack.
I am not really a germaphobe, but I freely confess that I would immediately put those dishes straight into the dishwasher one second after my colleague left the room!
At first glance our Gospel seems to be about the poor hygiene habits of Jesus disciples. But that is not what our passage is about. In the ancient Jewish world in addition to venerating we now call the Old Testament the Jews also venerated the traditions of the elders who formed a succession of rabbis going back for centuries.
Initially this was a purely oral tradition passed on with great care. Around the year 200 AD these traditions were written down in a work called the Mishna.
The longest section of the Mishnah, is called Keilim (or "Vessels") and it contains 30 chapters of rules for the ceremonial washing of pots and pans. Jesus conflict with the Pharisees was not about hygienebut about ritual cleansing.
At first glance Jesus response appears to be rejecting the idea of Tradition. Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites and says, quoting Isaiah that they are “teachingas doctrines the precepts of men.” Jesus say to them, “Youleave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.” (7:8).
Many Protestants would use these words as a proof text for the idea that we should follow the Bible alone and reject all human traditions as the mere “precepts of men.” Jesus may have rejected these Jewish traditions, but his disciples regarded apostolic Tradition quite differently.
St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you” (1 Corinthians 11:2).
And to the Thessalonians, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter. (2 Thessalonians 2:15). In his later writings St. Paul says that apostolic tradition was to be kept (1 Tim 6:14; 2 Tim 4:7), clung to (Titus 1:9), guarded (1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 1:12, 14), protected (1 Tim 6:1) and passed on faithfully from one generation to the next (2 Tim 2:2)."
The faith which was entrusted to the Apostles and passed down to the Church throughout all ages is revealed by God in both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition which “make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God” (DV 10, CCC 97).
I think we all have an idea what the Sacred Scripture might be, but what might be a contemporary example of Sacred Tradition. Beginning in 2006 HBO ran a five session television series called Big Love which portrayed a fundamentalist Mormon who has three wives.
With all the civil changes to our modern definition of marriage, can those who claim to follow the Bible alone prove that polygamy is contrary to God’s plan?
The idea of Big Love, --polygamy (multiple wives) or polyandry (multiple husbands), is not likely to trigger anyone here. As yet no one in our culture has advocated to make Big Love a human right. Hollywood has not begun to insert token Big Love characters in every movie and TV series. And thankfully we don’t have a shameful Big Love lobby among Catholics. But what do we make of Big Love?
What does the Bible say? The reality is that the Old Testament assumes the possibility to polygamy, and the New Testament assumes that this is wrong, but it never explicitly says so.
The main reason that we know that Big Love is contrary to God’s intentions is that the unbroken tradition of Jesus passed down through the apostles has been to believe that marriage is a sacrament for the baptized exclusively between one man and one woman.
As important as this teaching is, it comes to us primarily from Sacred Tradition. Our understanding of marriage comes from the discipleship of Jesus to his Apostles which was then passed on by them to bishops.
Sacred Tradition is actually a safeguard that prevents us from reinterpreting Scripture to agree with our own personal ideas about what it means to be human. Jesus counters a false understanding of being human not with rules but with an authentic understanding of the human person. What he calls the human heart.
The human heart or the center of our being was created by God for happiness. I haven’t actually watched the HBO series Big Love but if it were portrayed truthfully the characters in this drama would experience a great deal of unhappiness living this way.
Often when we think about morality we think about just following the rules or “catholic guilt” as some call it. The moral section of the Catechism counters this idea by beginning with the topic of happiness.
In fact, the Catechism has 360 paragraphs before it even introduces the ten commandments. The moral life is about living in the Spirit, being authentically human and seeking God’s happiness. The Ten Commandments just help us when we are lost at sea and need a moral compass.
Unfortunately, left to our own devices it is very easy to rationalize. Someone might say, “I have a cousin and he is into Big Love and he appears happy.” Jesus is merciful, and a friend of sinners, and we are always only one confession away from returning to Jesus, but Jesus doesn’t let us make up our own definition of being human
In today’s gospel Jesus says, “evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.” (Mk 7:21–23).
These are not mere rules, but an authentic God given assessment of what it means to be human and a call to a counter cultural way of life that leads to our happiness.
We should also point out that Jesus called the Jewish leaders who rationalize and lead people to contradict this way of life based on their own human traditions, hypocrites. Sadly, in the history of the Church hypocrisy in leadership is not a thing of the past.
I will let St. James in our second reading have the final word, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (Jas 1:27).
Jesus is calling each one of us today both to love the world and to live a life of holiness. Jesus is calling you today. Will you accept the call?
Share |
At first glance our Gospel seems to be about the poor hygiene habits of Jesus disciples. But that is not what our passage is about. In the ancient Jewish world in addition to venerating we now call the Old Testament the Jews also venerated the traditions of the elders who formed a succession of rabbis going back for centuries.
Initially this was a purely oral tradition passed on with great care. Around the year 200 AD these traditions were written down in a work called the Mishna.
The longest section of the Mishnah, is called Keilim (or "Vessels") and it contains 30 chapters of rules for the ceremonial washing of pots and pans. Jesus conflict with the Pharisees was not about hygienebut about ritual cleansing.
At first glance Jesus response appears to be rejecting the idea of Tradition. Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites and says, quoting Isaiah that they are “teachingas doctrines the precepts of men.” Jesus say to them, “Youleave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.” (7:8).
Many Protestants would use these words as a proof text for the idea that we should follow the Bible alone and reject all human traditions as the mere “precepts of men.” Jesus may have rejected these Jewish traditions, but his disciples regarded apostolic Tradition quite differently.
St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you” (1 Corinthians 11:2).
And to the Thessalonians, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter. (2 Thessalonians 2:15). In his later writings St. Paul says that apostolic tradition was to be kept (1 Tim 6:14; 2 Tim 4:7), clung to (Titus 1:9), guarded (1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 1:12, 14), protected (1 Tim 6:1) and passed on faithfully from one generation to the next (2 Tim 2:2)."
The faith which was entrusted to the Apostles and passed down to the Church throughout all ages is revealed by God in both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition which “make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God” (DV 10, CCC 97).
I think we all have an idea what the Sacred Scripture might be, but what might be a contemporary example of Sacred Tradition. Beginning in 2006 HBO ran a five session television series called Big Love which portrayed a fundamentalist Mormon who has three wives.
With all the civil changes to our modern definition of marriage, can those who claim to follow the Bible alone prove that polygamy is contrary to God’s plan?
The idea of Big Love, --polygamy (multiple wives) or polyandry (multiple husbands), is not likely to trigger anyone here. As yet no one in our culture has advocated to make Big Love a human right. Hollywood has not begun to insert token Big Love characters in every movie and TV series. And thankfully we don’t have a shameful Big Love lobby among Catholics. But what do we make of Big Love?
What does the Bible say? The reality is that the Old Testament assumes the possibility to polygamy, and the New Testament assumes that this is wrong, but it never explicitly says so.
The main reason that we know that Big Love is contrary to God’s intentions is that the unbroken tradition of Jesus passed down through the apostles has been to believe that marriage is a sacrament for the baptized exclusively between one man and one woman.
As important as this teaching is, it comes to us primarily from Sacred Tradition. Our understanding of marriage comes from the discipleship of Jesus to his Apostles which was then passed on by them to bishops.
Sacred Tradition is actually a safeguard that prevents us from reinterpreting Scripture to agree with our own personal ideas about what it means to be human. Jesus counters a false understanding of being human not with rules but with an authentic understanding of the human person. What he calls the human heart.
The human heart or the center of our being was created by God for happiness. I haven’t actually watched the HBO series Big Love but if it were portrayed truthfully the characters in this drama would experience a great deal of unhappiness living this way.
Often when we think about morality we think about just following the rules or “catholic guilt” as some call it. The moral section of the Catechism counters this idea by beginning with the topic of happiness.
In fact, the Catechism has 360 paragraphs before it even introduces the ten commandments. The moral life is about living in the Spirit, being authentically human and seeking God’s happiness. The Ten Commandments just help us when we are lost at sea and need a moral compass.
Unfortunately, left to our own devices it is very easy to rationalize. Someone might say, “I have a cousin and he is into Big Love and he appears happy.” Jesus is merciful, and a friend of sinners, and we are always only one confession away from returning to Jesus, but Jesus doesn’t let us make up our own definition of being human
In today’s gospel Jesus says, “evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.” (Mk 7:21–23).
These are not mere rules, but an authentic God given assessment of what it means to be human and a call to a counter cultural way of life that leads to our happiness.
We should also point out that Jesus called the Jewish leaders who rationalize and lead people to contradict this way of life based on their own human traditions, hypocrites. Sadly, in the history of the Church hypocrisy in leadership is not a thing of the past.
I will let St. James in our second reading have the final word, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (Jas 1:27).
Jesus is calling each one of us today both to love the world and to live a life of holiness. Jesus is calling you today. Will you accept the call?
Share |
