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Commentary on Mark 7:1-13

A group of self-righteous scribes and Pharisees come up from Jerusalem to observe Jesus. Obviously word has reached Jerusalem about what Jesus has been doing up in Galilee. They immediately notice that Jesus and his disciples do not observe some of the “traditions of the elders”, especially with regard to the washing of hands before eating. These traditions were a body of highly detailed but unwritten human laws which the Scribes and Pharisees regarded as having the same binding force as the Law of Moses. Paul admits to having been a fanatical upholder of these traditions (cf. Galatians 1:14)

It is hard not to come to the conclusion that many of these observances were originally based on practical experience. Eating without washing one's hands could be a source of sickness, although they knew nothing about germs or bacteria. Because sometimes it could be diseased, eating pork made some people seriously sick so the meat was banned altogether. But in order to ensure these hygienic requirements would be observed they were linked to a religious sanction. Violating them was not just bad for your health, but a violation of God’s will. To ignore them was to disobey God.

Clearly Jesus was not against the washing of hands as such, even as a religious observance. What he was against was the legalism by which the mere observance of some external actions was equated with being a devout lover of God. He quotes from the prophet Isaiah (Is 29:13):

This people honours me only with lip service,
while their hearts are far from me.
The worship they offer me is worthless;
the doctrines they teach are only human regulations.

The real commandments of God, e.g. unconditional love of the neighbour, are neglected in favour of what are purely human traditions. Jesus illustrates the hypocrisy involved by showing how some supposedly devout people got around the basic responsibility of respect for parents (which the Mosaic law demanded) by claiming that they had consecrated all they owned to God and the temple, while in fact keeping it for their own use. The “Qorban” was a way of supposedly making a gift to God by an offering to the Temple but in such a way that the donor could continue to use it for himself and not give it to others, even needy parents. (Like the priest who said, “Each week I throw all the collection up in the air for God. What stays up, he keeps; the rest comes to me.”)

We sometimes meet Catholics who confuse the essential service of God with some religious rulings. They judge people by whether they eat fish on Friday or not. They piously go through all kinds of devotional exercises but their conversation is full of gossip and destructive criticism of others.

Others get tied down by scruples: Did I say my penance after Confession? When the more important question would be, Did I change my behaviour? How did I keep my promise not to repeat the same sins?
Or did I observe the full hour of fasting before communion? When the more important issue would be, Does my going to communion bring me closer to God and make me a more loving person with others?

There can be a bit of the Pharisee in all of us and that is the real subject of the teaching today. We will only be judged by the depth of our love and nothing else.
 

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Commentary on 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30

Having asked for wisdom in governing, Solomon now prays for himself and all the people. He begins with the covenant principle of mutual faithfulness – God towards his people, the people towards their God. God’s kindness to his people flows from the covenant made with Moses at Sinai but it is conditional on their faithfulness. This is the core of the covenant agreement. In this passage there are there two applications: Yahweh has kept his promise by the building of the Temple, may he keep it also in preserving the stability of the dynasty.

Solomon makes his prayer publicly in the presence of all the people. He begins by indicating the uniqueness of the God of Israel. No other god has acted in history as has the God of Israel, performing great miracles and so directing the course of events so that his long-range covenant promises are fulfilled. Yahweh has kept his promises to the people, who for their part are faithful to you with their whole heart. Of course, the second part is not completely true; the Old Testament is full of incidents where the people violated their side of the covenant. In particular, Yahweh has honoured his promises to Solomon’s father, David, and their fulfilment is seen in the Temple, which David had been told would become a reality in Solomon’s reign. (This last statement from v.24 is not in today’s reading.)

Solomon then speaks in wonder at how a God for whom the heavens themselves are not big enough can contain himself within the confines of the temple that Solomon has built in his honour. “Can it indeed be that God dwells among men on earth? If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built.” An idea which some of those who followed Solomon in later times tended to forget.

The construction of the Temple and the appearance of a visible manifestation of the presence of God within its courts could – and did in fact – give rise to the idea that God was irreversibly and exclusively bound to the Temple in a way that guaranteed his assistance to Israel, no matter how the people lived. Solomon, however, had recognised that, even though God had chosen to dwell among his people in a special and localised way, he far transcended being contained by any created thing, however magnificent.

Solomon concludes his prayer by begging God to continue to watch over the temple and to listen to his prayers and those of all the people “which they offer in this place”. When an Israelite was unable to pray in the Temple itself, he was to direct his prayers towards the place where God had pledged to be present among his people.

In our churches, too, we can wonder how the God of the whole universe can be so specially present in our tabernacles. This is a marvellous source of comfort for us and we should use all the opportunities we can to "drop in for a visit" and ask Jesus to be part of our lives, our work, our families, our day.

At the same time, we can reflect that Jesus' sacramental presence in the tabernacle is a reminder of his real presence in all the people we meet and in all the experiences we have. Every person, every place, every experience is a sacrament of God's loving presence. Even when we are far from any church, Jesus is close to us.

Let us be close to him.