Twenty Second Sunday -Ordinary time
Sept 3, 2006

Deuteronomy 4:1‑-2, 6‑-8 Psalm: 15 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1‑-23

“It is from within the human heart......”

1. When I was studying French in Montreal way back in 1990, the teacher one day said to me in class, “Mr. Coutts do you think you are Picasso?” when I asked why, she replied, “you keep on putting accents wherever you like. You put an acute accent here, a grave accent there. Accents have a purpose. There is a rule as to where they are placed.”

I could not help thinking of that teacher, when I read the first reading today. Moses tells the people. You are given the Law. Do not add or subtract from it according to your whim or fancy. It is an advice that we can use in 2006. We Catholics sometimes treat the 10 commandments like an exam paper. “Given ten commandments, keep any six.” It does not work like that! The commandments were given as guidelines to lead us to a relationship to which God invites us.

2. Moses says: “I put before you the law, do not add or subtract. The advice is clear and straightforward. Through the centuries the Scribes and Pharisees to whom the law was entrusted to be handed down, kept on making additions. They did not do this out of malice or mischievousness. They had good intentions. The little laws and rules were helps. They were explanations to keep the Ten Commandments. But these little laws soon took an importance and solemnity of their own. The regulations gradually brought power and prestige to the Scribes and Pharisees who were entrusted in teaching and handing down the Law.

In fact these extra laws became a barrier to getting to know and keep the Ten Commandments. It was like a man being so fascinated by the Sign posts on the road that he does not take a step on the road which would take him to his final destination. In the Case of the Law, the rules and regulations became ends in themselves, that one never got past it to reach God.

3. In the second reading James picks up the theme that just listening and accepting the Word is not enough. We need to act on it.

We will be hearing excerpts from this letter of James for the next five weeks. Scholars tell us that the author took a Hellenistic Jewish document containing twelve exhortations based on the names of the twelve patriarchs in Gen 49 and adapted them for his Christian audience. The writer gave it this flavour by adding allusions to baptism, the Spirit, the sacrifice of Christ etc. Today’s reading comes from the second set of “wisdom sayings” and it was under the name of the Simeon the second of the twelve sons of Israel.

The writer picks up the same theme: Religion is not worth its salt if it concentrates on externals or mere observances. It is what is internal, the matters of the heart that makes a difference.

4. The two readings are the background to Jesus’ polemic against the Scribes and the Pharisees. He attacks the Scribes and Pharisees who dare to criticise the Apostles for not observing the small “rules and regulations”, the whole set of ordinances which gave the Scribes and Pharisees the importance and power that they guarded jealously.

It is interesting to note as an ‘aside’: we are told that SOME scribes and Pharisees criticised SOME apostles who did not keep the customs and traditions of washing hands and pots and external rubrics. This gives us to understand that Some other scribes and Pharisees agreed with Jesus. It also makes us realise that some of the Apostles did keep the external customs and traditions.

5. The LAW was and is holy and precious. All accepted that, but in itself, the Law could not save. The laws are more or less like our modern railway tracks. They can help you, guide you, show the way. But unless the train actually moves, it will go nowhere even though it is on the tracks. What matters is not the external beauty of the tracks or even the engine, but the internal spirit that keeps us going forward and helps us moving to a relationship with God.

6. In observing the Law, therefore, it is important to ask what is the meaning and the purpose of the law. The late Anthony DeMello would tell a story of a certain Guru who held religious services for his people. The Guru had a cat which became a distraction during the services, until one day a worshipper caught the cat and tied it with a cord to the foot of the altar. The cat sat there peacefully. After that before every service, someone would catch the cat and tie it with a cord. Then, the service went on with reverence. After some time the Guru died, but the people still tied the cat to the foot of the altar. Some time later, the Cat died. So the worshippers went out and bought another cat to tie it to the altar - because they thought it was a part of the rite of worship. No one had bothered to question or ask why the cat was there in the first place.

And so we need to keep the Ten Commandments, not add or subtract anything. If there are smaller rules and regulations, we should constantly test their value and ask whether they help or hinder the keeping of the Ten Commandments. We remember nevertheless, that the Commandments in themselves cannot save us. They still remain guide lines for us to come to God who is our only Saviour.