Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection September 01, 2024
Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time
01st September 2024 (Sunday)
Psalter: Week 2
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
Moses spoke to the people, saying “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?”
Psalm 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5 (R. 1a)
R/. O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
Second Reading: James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
My beloved brothers: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel : Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
At that time: When the Pharisees gathered to Jesus with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the market-place, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” “For from within, out of the heart of man, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Sunday – Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Guidelines: The external traditions and activities alone do not guarantee the authenticity of a person. The externals should help one to become more authentic, and also should express one’s being authentic
1. God created us in His own image and likeness. This shows our human beauty, dignity as well as sanctity. This interiority is the most important aspect of human person and society. No externals should mar or breach this. Rather, every external activity or tradition should help to live and foster this interior greatness.
2. An exterior is sound when it corresponds to the interior and channels a clean and good interior. Whenever there is no such harmony between the interior and the exterior, whenever a good exterior becomes only a cover-up or substitute for a defective and unclean interior, then clearly it is hypocrisy.
3. Unfortunately, hypocrisy is so prevalent always and everywhere. In the gospel, Jesus clearly exposes once again the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes. Following the traditions, rules and religious obligations is good. But all these should make one more authentic and benevolent. They alone cannot decide the quality of a person.
4. This hypocrisy lies in these following aspects: 1) Giving more importance to the human traditions and observances and neglecting the more essential divine spirit and moral precepts, 2) Twisting the explanation of the religious matters to suit one’s convenience and interests, 3) Ignoring inner purity and using the external purifications and purity as a cover up and substitute for the internal purity.
5. Life will be beautiful when there is a blend of a good exterior and a good interior, and not a conflict. Therefore, we should guard against the two possible dangers: one is a bad interior and a show-off exterior; the other is, a good interior but not shown in a good exterior. Both are defective!
6. True integrity is an integration of both interior purity and external purity, being religious-minded and charity-directed. It is in this context, we must bear in mind the teaching of Jesus in the gospel that what defiles a person is the interior pollution. It is the pollution of heart by all the evil things such as evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. Truly inner pollution is more dangerous and destructive than the external pollution. The life of a person or society degenerates when a person’s interior degenerates.
7. The same idea of inner pollution is reiterated by the second reading from James 1. 17 ff. The epistle cautions us to put away all filthiness and wickedness, to keep ourselves unstained from the world and to practice a religion that is pure and undefiled.
8. Positively, it means to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only”. In the light of the first reading from Deuteronomy 4. 1-2, 6-8, it would concretely imply to “give heed to the statutes and ordinances of the Lord and do them”.
9. At the closure of this reflection, let us become deeply aware of this serious problem of our society, and that is an excessive concern for the externals and an overriding neglect of the internal sanity and sobriety. It is worth asking some simple questions: How many are really aware that the pollution that is more dangerous and alarming is the inner pollution, the pollution by sin and evil? How many really bother to keep their hearts clean? How many give excessive importance to the features of their bodies while disfiguring their heart and soul? How many take upon a course of inner diet, with certain self- regulation and self- restraint? How many keep their external so clean and tidy while they defile their interior?
10. How many sincerely check their inner health, that is, the quality of their thoughts, the quality of their words, their actions and their whole character and behavior? How many knowingly disobey God’s explicit commands, warnings and admonitions? How many invest so much of their money, time, energies and capacities on what is temporary and worldly but spend very little on what is eternal and heavenly?
Practice: The profile of a person will be good when he guards his file of life from what does defile his interior and negatively compile his heart.
