SERMON/HOMILY FOR TUESDAY FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II 6TH FEBRUARY 2024

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SERMON/HOMILY FOR TUESDAY, FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE II 6TH FEBRUARY 2024

1Kings 8:22-23, 27-30; Ps.84; Mark 7:1-13

Christianity from the Heart
In today’s gospel, there is an obvious tension; not really between the Pharisees and Jesus’ disciples but between the Pharisees and Jesus himself. In questioning why the disciples of Jesus were not following the traditions of the elders as regards washing, the Pharisees were actually questioning what principle or guide Jesus was giving to his disciples. A master is expected to teach the right thing to the disciples.

In response, Jesus reprimanded the Pharisees and called them hypocrites not because they meticulously kept to the tradition of the elders, but that in doing so, they practiced a religiosity that does not stem from the heart; they practiced a religiosity of mere compliance. They would have been better-off if they had channeled the energy used in practicing sheered conformity into living authentic lives.

When a Christian simply conforms, he or she will be concerned with the barest minimum. Since he or she is not acting from the heart, love is absent. For example, some persons enter the Church only on Sundays because it is a holy day of obligation. They will not go to church any other day. They come to church on Sundays because they do not want to fall short of the obligation. Such attitude limits one to only the externals.

This is what Jesus was actually condemning in the Pharisees. God is most interested in our hearts. Once we are one with him in mind, our actions will invariably fall in line. Again, we cannot deceive God because he sees all that is done in secret. The people we seek to please by living a pretentious life will neither be the judges nor constitute board of judges on judgment day. Let us always seek to do the will of God. The more we do the will of God, the more we feel his presence around us. The psalmist tells us today that the dwelling place of the Lord of hosts is lovely.

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