Fr. Manuel João, comboni missionary
Sunday Reflection
from the womb of my whale, ALS
Our cross is the pulpit of the Word
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Mark 7:1-23: Evil Intentions Emerge from the Heart
The Ecology of the Heart
After five Sundays of reading the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, today we return to the journey through the Gospel of Mark, starting from chapter seven. The gospel passage has been somewhat abridged to make it shorter. It would be appropriate to consider the full text (Mark 7:1-23).
We could say that the central theme emerging from the readings is the Word of God. This Word has given us life, it has been planted within us, and, if received with docility, it is destined to bear fruit, as St. James says in the second reading (James 1). But what is the relationship between the Word and the “laws and customs” that Moses speaks of in the first reading (Deuteronomy 4), and the traditions defended by the Pharisees and scribes? Jesus addresses this issue in today’s gospel passage.
A delegation of Pharisees and scribes had been sent from Jerusalem to check the orthodoxy of this Jesus of Nazareth, who had become famous and whom many considered a prophet (Mark 6:14-15). They observe that some of his disciples eat with “unclean hands,” that is, without washing them, and they are scandalised and question Jesus about it. Jesus rebukes them, calling them hypocrites and quoting the prophet Isaiah: “This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” They focus on the external but neglect the internal. Yes, their hands are clean, but their hearts are impure. Jesus concludes his prophetic denunciation by stating: “You nullify the word of God by your tradition” (v. 13).
Points for Reflection
1. Vision Conversion. The issue of ritual purity was very significant in the time of Jesus. Certain “puritan” groups had adopted specific norms that originally applied only to priests. Their intention was to make God present in every little daily action. However, underlying this mentality was a distorted view of reality, divided between pure and impure people and things, between sacred and profane, two worlds that could not communicate.
Jesus came to break down this wall of separation. He restores God’s view of creation: “And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1). This mentality of splitting the world in two has not disappeared. On the contrary, it seems very contemporary. It manifests in our language (“us” and “them”), in the division between good and bad, in the distrust of those who are different, in the barriers we build in our relationships, and between nations… The Lord invites us to convert our perspective, to recognise the beauty and goodness sown everywhere by His Spirit!
2. The Living Word Incarnated in Transient Words. What is the relationship between the Word of God and the “laws and customs” mentioned by Moses in the first reading, to which nothing should be added or removed? This is an ever-relevant issue: the relationship between the Word and tradition, between what is essential and what is secondary, between what is eternal and what is transient. “The word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 1:25). The divine Word is immutable, but it is also a living reality (Hebrews 4:12) that is incarnated in transient human words. Writing is a way to capture the ephemeral human word and give it some stability by putting it in writing so that it is not lost. In computing, this operation is called “saving.”
But culture, mentality, sensitivity, and language change according to time, space, and cultures. To make it accessible, readable, and understandable, that is, relevant, it must be “converted” into an updated form and language. How should this be done, and by what criteria? “Charity is the only criterion by which everything must be done or not done, changed or not changed,” says Blessed Isaac of Stella (a Cistercian abbot of the 12th century).
3. The Ecology of the Heart. Jesus invites us to care for our hearts, that is, our inner life, from which all impurities emerge. Jesus lists twelve impurities, a symbolic number indicating totality. If the heart is polluted, desires, thoughts, words, and actions will be contaminated. Today, we are particularly sensitive to environmental pollution and the contamination of the planet. We should have a similar concern for our inner “planet.”
The ecology of the heart, that is, taking care of our inner world, first of all, involves cultivating awareness to recognise the toxic ideas and emotions that can pollute our hearts, such as pride, anger, envy, jealousy… Without proper attention, our hearts can become a “dumping ground for impurities,” both our own and others’. Regular recourse to the sacrament of penance helps us to rid ourselves of these impurities. But clearing the heart is not enough. It must be turned into a garden. The Gardener is the Spirit, who, especially through listening to the Word and in prayer, scatters and makes the seeds of every good thing sprout in us. Only then can we have “clean hands and a pure heart,” as the psalmist says (Psalm 24:4)!
Fr. Manuel João Pereira Correia, MCCJ
