Gospel Reflection for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

2nd. September – The Law and Compassion

The first reading this Sunday is taken from the Old Testament; the Book of Deuteronomy. Moses, the great leader of the Israelites speaks to them and encourages them to keep the Law, the commandants which God had given them. These laws helped to guide and lead the people as they lived their lives as the People of God. Sadly, by the time of Jesus, the Scribes and Pharisees had literally taken control of the Law and had turned it into a countless list of rules and regulations. They took the heart and spirit of the Law away and replaced it with an cold list of do’s and don’ts. They took it upon themselves to interpret and proclaim the law; they decided who broke the law and who kept it.

In the gospel this Sunday, Jesus, the Scribes and Pharisees, as usual are disagreeing with each other publicly. As far as they are concerned, Jesus and his disciples are not following the Law as it laid down by them. They ask Jesus, ‘Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands?’  Jesus challenges them even more when he calls them hypocrites, and quotes the Prophet Isaiah who said,   ‘this people honours me (God) only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me…. You put aside the commandments of God and cling to human traditions.’  Strong and challenging words indeed!   In another gospel, Jesus is even more direct and hard hitting when he says to Pharisees, ‘You occupy the seat of Moses.. you ties up heavy burdens lay them on people’s shoulders, but will you lift a finger to move them? No! Everything you do is done to attract attention.’     (Matthew 23.4-5) .

We have to be very careful not to think what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees doesn’t in some way apply to us today. The practises Jesus highlights in the gospels are very close to any religious person of any faith or belief.   There is always the temptation and danger to believe that we, by our actions and good deeds make ourselves worthy and acceptable to God. It can be all too easy to focus on all the rituals or any ritual and miss the deeper, more meaningful reality that the ritual leads and pints us to. Rituals are never an end in themselves. In our eagerness to do things right, we might have forgotten to ask if we are doing the right thing in the first place.   Imagine going to a birthday party and getting caught up wondering if the food is right, if there are enough candles, if the ‘Happy Birthday’ is being sung correctly by everyone present?  The party and all it ‘rituals’ should not distract us from the pure joy of celebrating with our friends and family.

Jesus is not a careless heretic who is ’throwing the baby out with the bath water’ as the saying goes. As he said himself, ‘I have not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfil  them.’ Jesus fulfilled and purified the Law with love and forgiveness and his  very life. Let us follow his example; let us temper following the Law with mercy, tenderness, justice and compassion.

– Michael Moore OMI