February 8, 2010, Homily, February 9, 2010.

Mark 7: 1-13

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:

This people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.

You disregard God's commandments but cling to human tradition." He went on to say, "how well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and Whoever curses father or mother shall die. Yet you say, 'If someone says to father or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is gorban [meaning, dedicated to God]," you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things."
The Gospel of the Lord.

The Pharisees and the scribes are seeking to denigrate or criticize Jesus by criticizing His disciples. The details of the criticism are valid: One should clean one's hands before dining. But the overall intent of the criticism by the Pharisees is not valid, for in focusing on the acts of the disciples of Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes seek to ignore the words of Jesus. We do the same thing in critiquing the story of the creation of the world in Genesis. The point of Genesis is not the details of the seven days; the point of Genesis is that God created the universe and everything in it. The rest of Genesis is poetry. So, here the point of this Gospel is that our worship is in vain if our hearts are far from God. We must not merely honor God with our lips. We must place our hearts close to God. The disciples of Jesus are close to God. The Pharisees and scribes should recognize that the disciples of Jesus are close to God, as does Solomon in his prayer in the first reading, "Lord, there is no God like you. You keep your covenant of mercy with your servants who are faithful to you with their whole heart." That faithfulness is shown in giving God our heart. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!