Readings: Deuteronomy 4, 1-8; Psalm 15, The One who does Justice will Live in the Presence of the Lord; James 1 17-27; Mark 7, 1-23.
Deuteronomy:
The fifth book of the Old Testament. The last book of what we refer to as the Pentateuch, namely five books. These five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy were made up of five scrolls, which is how it got its Greek title, Pentateuch. The Jewish people referred to them at the Torah or Law. Interestingly, the books themselves got their titles from the Greeks as a way to describe what the content of each book was about. They cover a period from the very beginning of time down to the arrival of the Jewish people into the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy is mainly made of laws, and the bulk of the book is composed of a series of addresses by Moses and also a long collection of laws, which covered just about every facet of life for the “devout Jew”.
The book was probably composed sometime either during or shortly after the Babylonian Captivity, namly around the sixth century before Christ.
In today’s reading we hear Moses first of all explaining that there is no need for anything beyond the laws he is giving and also selling them on how lucky they are to have such laws!
Letter of James
For five Sundays, starting this week, we are going to be reading the Letter of James as our second reading. The author, James was probably the head of the church in Jerusalem, and at times is referred to as the brother of Jesus. He is not one of the twelve apostle James, there were two of them! The letter is not a typical “letter” in the same sense as Paul’s Letters, in that there is a very brief greeting, not the typical extended greeting, no information about the sender and nothing of the usual formulaic ending of letters of that time.
The letter was probably written before 62CE when James was stoned to death. It is addressed to the “twelve tribes of the diaspora”, which refers back to the diaspora when the tribes were scattered following the Babylonian and Assyrian invasions. In this case it is thought to be addressed to those churches outside of Jerusalem made up of Jewish converts to Christianity.
The contents are a collection of moral observations and instructions, our reading today from Chapter One fits perfectly with the whole theme of todays Gospel, namely the need to interiorize what it means to follow Christ rather than to go through the motions.
Why am I here
I blame Vatican II. Up until that time, the early 1960s we knew exactly what was a sin and what wasn’t a sin. In fact George Carlin had great fun with his album Class Clown. But after Vatican Council 2 everything seems to have changed and all the certainties we had before are gone. You knew clearly that it was a sin to eat meat on Friday! You knew that you had to fast from Midnight before receiving communion. It was the kind of environment we find Jesus dealing with today. The rules became everything. I can remember in the early 70’s getting that phone call when a holy day fell on a Saturday. “Father, if I go to mass on Saturday evening will that cover for the Holy day obligation and also the Sunday.” It was the same as asking “what is the least I have to do to remain in a relationship with you?”
Before Vatican II the pathway was clear, follow the rules and you will get into heaven, or at least purgatory. After the council, it seems that the ball was passed to each one of us. We were responsible for our own relationship with God. Catholics certainly began to take responsibility, aided greatly by the encyclical on Birth Control.
The gospel today focus’ on rules for meals…but if we step back and really take a closer look at what is going on it is the way the rules are used by Jesus, versus the Pharisees. They are going by the literal interpretation of the rules, kind of like slavishly following a recipe, where as Jesus is looking at the “intention” behind the actions.
We might well apply this discussion to our selves. Why are you here today? Is it because your parents made you come??? Is it because you will go to hell if you don’t come here? Probably a more basic question could well be: What is the purpose of being here today? Am I here just because of habit, or does what we do here each week have an impact on my life outside this “getting together”?
Picture 1: Mass with Kevin & Sabrina
Picture 2: Mass helpers, an Old Geezer, Kevin, and Sabrina
Picture 3: Birthdays, Melissa, Maureen, & Carl
Picture 4: Birthdays, Jo & Jackie