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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2009 /  We are washed clean in the miracle of God's saving love

by Fr. Richard C. Macey, Special to The Michigan Catholic
Published August 21, 2009

First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
This passage is framed by the reference to the "statutes and decrees," which come from God. The Book of Deuteronomy makes clear that the Promised Land is given on the condition and as long as the people observe the Law, which God gave them.

The word of God in this passage begins with the first words of the Jewish daily prayer, the Shema: "Israel, hear …!" "Hear" means "obey." The first appearance of the word, "teach," occurs in this passage. It will be an important theme throughout the book. Obedience to the Law is a sign of wisdom. In the later wisdom literature of the Old Testament, the Law will be equated with Wisdom, as in Sirach 24:22.

Israel is called a "great nation" before it enters the land of promise. The presence of God and His Law, not the military superiority or the wealth of the people, have given it this status among the nations of the world. The urgency and immediacy of the directive from God is shown by using the present tense of the verbs and the word, "today." There are textual versions of this passage which repeat "today" in the beginning line.

Second Reading: James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
The second reading for the next five Sundays will be from the Letter of James, one of the seven Catholic Epistles, along with 1-3 John, 1-2 Peter and Jude. The expression, "all … every," emphasizes the completeness of what we receive from God.

There are many charged words in this passage. They bring up images and ideas from other places in the Scripture. The word, "firstfruits," often refers to what will be offered to God in sacrifice. But they are also the promise of much more to follow in a good harvest. "Creation" is related to God's unique activity. The word, "humbly," may also be translated as "meekness." It is the opposite of "anger" or "wrath." "Hearers" may refer to the Jewish tradition of reading the Torah in public assembly. Believers are to put what is proclaimed into practice. The words, "pure and undefiled … unstained," are cultic language, referring both to the offerer and the offered sacrifice.

The stipulation "to care for orphans and widows in their affliction" reflects the concern of the Law to protect the most defenseless members of society. The needs of orphans and widows are often the focus of attention in the prophetic literature. They represented the marginalized members of the community. The author reminds the people that an active profession of faith always involved concern for the needs of others.

Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
The word "unclean" uses the Greek word, which literally means "common." The more technical word for "unclean" is reserved for "unclean spirits" in the Gospel of Mark. This word is contrasted with the idea of "holy," which refers to the separate nature of what is dedicated to God.

There are a couple of curious phrases. The word translated as "carefully," is literally "by the fist" in Greek. No one has satisfactorily explained the meaning of the author. Also, the word for "purifying (themselves) … the purification (of cups and jugs and kettles and beds)" is perplexing. It is the word for "baptism," immersion. Is the author being sarcastic about being rigorously legalistic in referring to the immersion of a bed? There is a reference to an unclean bed, but nothing is said about what to do with it in Leviticus 15:4, 24, 26.

The explanation of Jewish practices has been used by exegetes to explain the Gentile origin of Mark's Gospel. The address by Jesus to those who would enforce a strict interpretation of the Law upon His followers may reflect the same conflict addressed in the Pauline letters, between the Christian Gentiles and the Judaizing Christians. The Gospel may be reinforcing the Church's independence from the Mosaic Law. Faithful Christians did not have to become observant Jews, too.

In a seminar this past summer, Fr. David Neuhaus, a Jesuit priest and a convert from Judaism, explained that Jesus spoke as a prophet. He reminded the people, especially the leaders, that the proper use of the Law was a preparation, not an end in itself. There was a tension between coherence (tradition) and contingency (change). Jesus spoke in favor of both. Tradition is to bring people into a relationship with God. We must come to know Jesus in the time we live. The focus is on the people.

We have had our own purity laws. When I was a student in the seminary, my parents came to visit. I took them to see our beautiful chapel. There were just the three of us. Mother didn't have her mantilla (a head covering) in her purse, so she put her coat over her head. On another occasion, one of my classmates, on the evening of his ordination, sat with a group of us and read from a sacramental theology book, which addressed "minor matter" and "major matter" with regard to whether a host was cracked or broken when offered in Communion. He said that those statements really bothered him as he began his work in a parish.

Another law was that priests could not have any physical defect when they were ordained. I had a deaf seminarian in class a few years ago. He was an excellent student and asked many good questions, through his signer. He became the first ordained deaf priest in the U.S. and was sent to work with other deaf people, who more quickly and effectively accept a deaf person into their community. He would not have been accepted as a candidate when I was a seminarian. There are people in our Church and in my own parish, who are more strongly concerned about "purity laws," usually their own standards of action and dress, rather than about the critical needs of our members.

One of the struggles of being a pastor is knowing how to keep focused on the needs of the people in our area as well as be faithful to the traditions handed down to us. What are the "statutes and decrees of the Lord," and what is just "human tradition," which distracts us from a greater duty? The call of Jesus still challenges and transforms us in our response to His call of service to others.

Fr. Richard C. Macey is pastor of Our Lady of the Woods Parish, Woodhaven.