Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
A few years ago, while I was still a parish priest, I observed a communion minister remonstrating with a young boy because the boy had put out his left hand to receive Holy Communion. I felt the little boy’s shame because I too am left-handed and remember the days when teachers tried to change me into a right hander. In fact I had to intervene and tell the communion minister to give communion to the child even though the child had held out his left hand to receive. Afterwards I had to ask the communion minister which was more important: receiving the Body of Christ or receiving in the right hand.
As I read the Gospel given to us for our meditation this weekend, I thought of that incident and the tremendous ability which humans have for changing societal norms into religious norms, while not paying attention to the truly religious norms which should govern our relationship with Almighty God and with others, especially the poor and powerless. Societal norms are set by the powerful in the society. The powerful in the society decide what is acceptable and what is not. When these societal norms become religious norms, the power quotient is multiplied. This is dangerous to our spiritual health because the acquisition and use of power can be extremely seductive. Jesus is not however concerned with respectability and the acquisition of power. Jesus’ primary concern is putting others, especially the afflicted and powerless, into contact with the loving and merciful intervention of God. Power and Christian spirituality do not go together. When the concern is respectability, compassion and mercy seem to take a back seat and the hearts of those so afflicted grow coarse and are far from God. This was the situation at the time of Jesus. The religious leaders, the Pharisees, were concerned about the ritual washings which all religious Jews were called to make and in their concern about these exterior rituals, they had lost sight of the far more important interior concerns. Jesus therefore can say to them: “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honours 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 commandment but cling to human tradition.”
So often it would seem, God can say the same about us. We disregard God’s commands but cling to human tradition. So we worry about going to communion with the left hand or about a woman receiving communion in a sleeveless dress but we have no problem in embarrassing those we consider in breach of our manmade laws.
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It is true that every human community needs laws and regulations but these laws and regulations must always take into account the protection of the little ones or the powerless in society, not the maintenance of the power and status of the powerful. The Book of Deuteronomy is very clear on this and gave guidelines to the Israelites in this matter, reminding them that because they had experienced powerlessness in Egypt, they had a duty to open their hearts and hands to the powerless in their midst. Unfortunately the Israelites forgot this and so Jesus would say to them: “This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” To have hearts close to God, it is necessary to remember God’s acts of mercy and kindness towards us, so that we in our turn can be merciful and kind to others, always guarding against making others experience shame.
Today then, let us remember and thank God for those whose hearts are close to God, those who strive to take away a person’s shame. We think first of all of Jesus, who took on our shame so that we could be without shame. We remember those who in imitation of Christ have given their lives to removing the shame which the poor and powerless so often suffer. I think of Msgr Romero in El Salvador, martyred because of his concern for the powerless in his land. I think of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her sisters, giving their lives for those dying on the streets of cities throughout the world. I think of Fr Gerry Pantin here in Trinidad and Tobago and his work with dropouts. They did not cling to human traditions which so often blame the powerless themselves for their plight. They held fast to God’s commandments and tried to do what Jesus himself did for those on the margins and beyond the margins. As we thank God for these exemplars we ask that we in our turn not only honour God with our lips but that we have hearts close to God, making God’s commandments the pattern of our lives.
LET US PRAY
All powerful and ever-loving God, it is your nature to be merciful and to be close to you, we must be merciful ourselves. Scripture tells us that Jesus, your Son, called us to be merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful. Help us to remember your acts of mercy towards us, as Moses enjoined the Israelites to remember your acts of mercy towards them. Remembering your love and mercy towards us, give us the grace to be loving and merciful to others so that through us, the powerless and marginalised may experience your love and mercy. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our Mother, and Jesus, your Son, whose heart is always full of mercy to us. Amen.
