Responsorial Psalm: Ps 15:2-5
2nd Reading: Jas 1:17-18,21-22,27
Gospel: Mk 7:1-8,14-15,21-23
We are a people who love to follow after traditions. Our Church is filled with them, our nation is filled with, and the way that we move about with our lives is filled with them. These traditions make us feel comfortable and for the most part make sense to why they are done when you think about it. Tomorrow we will celebrate Labor Day and it only makes sense that people will be off work for that day. We are also at the start of the football season and it makes sense to why Rocky Top is played each time that the Volunteers score a touchdown. It would not make sense for them to play it when the other team scores a touchdown because at those moments we have nothing to celebrate. No matter what it is that we are attracted to within our lives it can become harmful to ourselves when we lose the sight of their true meaning of these traditions. We cannot allow ourselves to walk through life living up to traditions while we allow our hearts to move further away from Christ.
There must be a correlation between what is going on within our hearts and what we present on the outside. We cannot enter into the Church and put on our "Church face" only to remove it once we walk outside the doors. By the fact that we have come to this place to be nourished by God's Holy Word and by the Sacrament of the Altar we should be able to fully integrate these elements into our lives. To integrate these elements into our lives is not to say that we are self righteous and better then others, but is to agree with the Prophet Isaiah who was quoted in our Gospel as saying: "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." This quote from Scripture is a reminder for each of us to back up what we preach. We cannot tell people that we believe one thing and then go out and do something contrary to that message because in doing so we are having multiple personalities going at war with each other.
We are a Church which contains many little reminders which represent the reality of our faith. Whenever we make the sign of the cross we are expressing our belief in the Holy Trinity and are asking It to come into our lives to guide our prayer. We stand during the proclamation of the Holy Gospel because these were words that were spoken by Christ Himself and therefore are set apart from the other readings found inside of Scripture. Fridays are a day of penance and we are called to offer sacrifice within our lives, so that we can begin to put our passions to rest and finally be able to move towards Christ. For these few examples given many more exist within the Church which bring our minds to the reality of Christ. In following after these everyday gestures we must allow our minds to have direction for what we are doing instead of allowing ourselves to put nothing into it. To put nothing into the faith that we express would be to allow ourselves to go out into the world unchanged by the fact that we are Catholic.
Today the Gospel of Saint Mark presents us with the Pharisees who knew the laws that they as Jews were required to follow. Despite knowing the laws which bound them they had a lack of integration going on within their hearts. These rules were removed from their true meaning and thus they were unable to express their full reality. As they faced off against Christ and His apostles they were unable to accept God and God's word into their lives. All of these rules led up to one ultimate authority who now stood before them, and yet they were unable to get it. They remained content with where they were and thus were unable to experience the fullness of life that could of been found with Christ. Christ extended an invitation to them to turn away from their own sinfulness and to follow after Him. He gave them a challenge to not separate their laws from what was going on within their hearts. We cannot allow ourselves to follow after rules and practice without allowing any change to take place within our hearts.
This past week our parish community entered into its week of prayer. Through this week we have taken time out of our busy schedules to be challenged concerning our need for the growth of prayer within our lives. Prayer is the way that we can draw closer to Christ because it is through this action that we desire to unite ourselves with Him more and more. Following our noon Mass this week of prayer will come to a close, but the challenge to grow in our life of prayer remains. We must continue to grow towards Christ, so that we can begin to experience the fullness of life that can be found within this relationship. Our life of prayer will aid us in our daily battle of turning away from evil and drawing ourselves closer to good. Through prayer we will be able to walk into the Church fully integrated into what is going on before our eyes. It will give us the assistance to go into the world not wearing a "face" that contradicts what we experience here at this Mass.
May we accept the invitation that has been extended to us by Christ this day. May we no longer feel content with going through the motions of being Catholic, but may we allow ourselves to enter fully into it. Through this relationship may our hearts be truly transformed, so that our lives will mirror that of Christ. Our lives can only mirror this relationship when we allow ourselves to turn away from sin and when we allow ourselves to be drawn closer to Christ through prayer. In a few moments we will receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist within our lives and will be sent into the world to be unmoved by the fact that Christ has come to dwell amongst us. May we allow Christ to come here and dwell with us today and not allow our traditions to get in the way, but instead to use them to enhance our relationship with Christ. When we allow our traditions to not mindlessly control us we can begin to dwell in presence of the Lord who brings justice into our lives.
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