It's what's inside that counts! ~ A reflection on the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Deu 4:1-2, 6-8

Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5 (1a)

Jms 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27

Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

It's what's inside that counts!  This is the lesson that we take from the passages of Mark's Gospel that we heard today.  Jesus was approached by the Pharisees who were charging his disciples with not observing the Jewish purity laws that Moses had given the Israelites centuries before.  Some of the disciples had not washed their hands before eating.  This might seem like a petty complaint but it was actually a serious charge that would reflect on whether Jesus and his followers could be counted as observant Jews; and if Jesus would be taken seriously as a teacher or prophet.

But Jesus realized that the Pharisees were again trying to trap him.  He saw what hypocrites they were and did not hesitate to respond to their charges.  He gathered the people together again and explained what true purity meant.  That it was nothing that comes from outside that would defile them; but what came from their hearts.  If they were evil inside, then they would steal, murder, lie, be envious, hate, commit adultery and so on.  Jesus was showing them by his own life, what purity of heart meant.  

In the second reading, St. James writes to his fellow Christians, that if we follow God's commands, take care of orphans and widows and keep ourselves unstained by the world, we will be pure and undefiled before God...

James' words have meaning for us today also.  He tells us to "Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls."  We are to let that word become so much a part of us that what then comes from our mouth is goodness, love, mercy and compassion... the purity of heart that we are to strive for.

We share this word with our family, our friends, our community and our world because this is what Jesus asks of us.  We are God's people and he works through us to bring about his Kingdom in our time.

Today's psalm response says it beautifully:  "The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord."  (Ps 15:1a)  Indeed, it's what's inside that counts!     




 ~ Image: "Pharisees and Sadducees come to tempt Jesus" by James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum