{"id":1674,"date":"2015-08-30T12:01:40","date_gmt":"2015-08-30T16:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1674"},"modified":"2015-08-30T12:01:40","modified_gmt":"2015-08-30T16:01:40","slug":"22nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/22nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

22nd<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\nDeuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
\nJames 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
\nMark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
\nAugust 30, 2015<\/p>\n

Some<\/em> of the Pharisees, along with some<\/em> of the scribes, have come to observe what Jesus and His disciples are doing.\u00a0 They are shocked that His disciples eat with \u201cunclean\u201d hands.\u00a0 As these Pharisees and scribes see it, the Law is clear in requiring purification rituals before eating.<\/p>\n

To understand this, we need to understand the difference between \u201cwashing\u201d our hands and \u201cpurification\u201d.\u00a0 Washing our hands before eating is a health concern so we don\u2019t become sick or spread germs.\u00a0 Purification is something we do as a spiritual exercise.<\/p>\n

The Pharisees and the scribes have confused the two.\u00a0 They have taken an Old Testament rule for priests to purify their hands before presiding at ritual and extended it to all people.\u00a0 In effect they have added<\/em> to what God has commanded.\u00a0 Jesus tells them this is not the way it is meant to be.<\/p>\n

Today there are people who feel the Catholic Church has added to what God has taught in the scriptures.\u00a0 Without a doubt, the Catholic Church has a lot to say and offers many teachings on faith and morals.\u00a0 However, it is not the intent of the Catholic Church to add<\/em> to what God has taught us.<\/p>\n

First of all, we believe that the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 So, when it offers a teaching, it flows from the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Furthermore, the purpose of Church teaching is to help us take what God revealed in the Bible 2,000 years ago and apply it to our lives today.\u00a0 The world has changed, particularly with industrialization and technology but this does not make God\u2019s teaching out of date.<\/p>\n

Moses speaks to the people of how, if they follow God\u2019s commandments, they will be seen as wise and intelligent.\u00a0 The fact is that God\u2019s commandments are good for us.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at God\u2019s Commandment, Thou shall not steal<\/em>.\u00a0 We don\u2019t want people taking our stuff so we agree stealing is bad.\u00a0 Stealing is not good for society as a whole.\u00a0 If we always live in fear of someone stealing our stuff, then we won\u2019t trust others.\u00a0 How can society function if we can\u2019t trust anyone?<\/p>\n

I think everyone would agree on this much but the Church calls us to take the Commandment not to steal a step further.\u00a0 For instance, not paying a person a proper wage for their work is not giving them their due and, hence, stealing.\u00a0 Some would not agree.<\/p>\n

While the Catholic Church is accused by some of adding to what God has taught, today there are people who want to subtract<\/em> from what God has taught.\u00a0 God says not to do this.<\/p>\n

Some people want a very watered down faith.\u00a0 They say if you just believe in Jesus it is enough.\u00a0 Believing in Jesus is enough but to believe in Jesus means to live according to what He teaches.<\/p>\n

Those who wish to subtract say it is outdated or we see things differently now.\u00a0 For instance, there are explicit passages in the Bible that declare homosexual activity a sin but they want to say it is outdated.<\/p>\n

Is everything in the Bible current Church teaching?\u00a0 Well, you can read in the Old Testament about the animal sacrifices required by the scriptures.\u00a0 We no longer offer animal sacrifices but this was not changed by psychology or other human thought.\u00a0 It was changed by Jesus when He came to show us what true sacrifice is as He died on the Cross for us.<\/p>\n

Today we have heard God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 As Paul writes it is not enough just to be hearers of the Word.\u00a0 We must be doers of the Word.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8 James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 August 30, 2015 Some of the Pharisees, along with some of the scribes, have come to observe what Jesus and His disciples are doing.\u00a0 They are shocked that His disciples eat with \u201cunclean\u201d hands.\u00a0 As these Pharisees …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-r0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1674"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1675,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674\/revisions\/1675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}