Coffee With God

Reflection: Mark 7:1-8; 14-15; 21-23

The evangelist Mark, who writes for an audience in Rome that did not know the customs of the Jews, now feels the need to explain to his readers this obsession of the Jews with the ritual purifications. The Jews paid great attention to the meticulous execution of the ritual washings, and insisted on its scrupulous execution, but they forgot the meaning of the rite itself and lost its value. We must be careful also about these scrupulously executed rites in our liturgical celebrations because if their meaning is forgotten, they can be dangerous. The Jews felt satisfied when they went through the rite of purification, although the value of this rite, the rite’s memory was lost. Their original intention was to remind the people of God to be thankful to God for his providential care. A rite of purification ended with a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving. But as the ages passed, the scribes and the pharisees interpreted the laws to benefit their interests. Instead of making it as an opportunity to thank God, it was presented as an obligation, failure of which amounted to breaking the law. Similar misinterpretations and obligatory rituals also happen to us. Where there is true faith that comes from genuine love, nothing needs to be imposed as obligatory. When we try to fulfil what is obligatory in the Church, our actions are based on the rules and regulations and not based on love. Our “days of obligation” in the Church is an example. Are we participating in the Sunday liturgy to fulfil an obligation or because of our love for the Lord and love for the community? When our objective is only to meet the obligations, we are guided by fear and not by love. When the tradition is stripped of meaning, it becomes a meaningless gesture. The Pharisees became slaves of their religious traditions, and not even Jesus was able to set them free. And Jesus calls them hypocrites. For the Pharisee, the pure hands were those that performed the ritual to its perfection; but for Jesus the pure hands are those that did works of love. It is the works of charity that would purify our hands. We should pay attention not to becomes slaves to the traditions while living our liturgical life in faith. There are people who are afraid to take communion in the hand because they think that their hands are impure. What makes us believe that our tongues that speak all the wrongs about our brethren are purer and better than our hands? What does it mean for you to participate in the liturgical life of the community? Are you participating on the Sunday Mass as an obligation, out of fear of punishment?