Hearts in the Right Place

Homily: Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

1 September 2024

Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez

Is it wrong to wash your hands? Of course not! Our parents taught us to wash our hands before every meal, right? During the time of COVID we were told to wash our hands well with soap and water to avoid contracting the virus. This is a very helpful practice even now to keep us from getting sick because we tend to touch surfaces where germs, viruses and bacteria accumulate. Hence, we need to observe proper handwashing at all times.

If hand washing is not a bad thing, why does Jesus take issue with it in today’s gospel? Handwashing in this case is not for hygiene but rather a ritual for purification. It is more symbolic. It is supposed to suggest purity more than cleanliness. In the gospel passage this Sunday, Jesus lashes out at the Pharisees calling them hypocrites for their over-emphasis on the external observance of the washing ritual. Jesus scolds them for ignoring what is truly at the heart of these religious practices. Jesus wants these religious leaders to realise that because they are so caught up with the external, they no longer know for what purpose they have created all these rituals. They have forgotten that all these rites are supposed to remind them that they are in the service of God. Jesus reminds them to focus on what is on the inside; not on what is outside — to try and see what is in the hearts of some of Jesus’ disciples. Do they really intend to disrespect God? Are they really defiling themselves?

In the First Reading, Moses instructs the people to observe God’s commandments carefully so that “they may live.” (Deuteronomy 4:1) He emphasises that by observing the law they are manifesting their unique relationship with God. Thus, observance of the law springs from a heart that desires to please God by pursuing what is right in His eyes.  It follows that Jewish laws about food are revered despite their complexity because they are aware that they are observing them to please God. However, there are so many rules and the Pharisees felt it is their duty to police the Jews into observing every little rule of their rituals.  Sometimes, these leaders revel in the power they have over people so they lord it over the Jews every chance they get. They feel slighted when people go against them or had an opposing opinion.

As we mentioned earlier, focusing too much on the “how-to-do-things” takes away the focus from the “why-we-do-things”. Jesus says that rather than worry about what goes into our mouths, what really counts is what comes out of our hearts. Jesus explains His point by stating these two principles:  First, nothing that goes into the body from outside can make a person ritually or religiously unclean. No food that goes into a person from the outside can make a person unclean because naturally, food does not go into the heart but into the stomach and ultimately passes out as waste. Second, Jesus says that real uncleanness is in the heart and in the mind. (Be careful how you think your life is shaped by your thoughts. Proverbs 4:23) What makes a person unclean is the filth that comes from their thoughts and motivations expressed through spoken words and actions. Such evil thoughts and actions such as “unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly” (Mark 7:21-22) are what make us impure. These behaviours do not honour God. All these exemplify real uncleanness and their very source, their very root is found within ourselves and not in what we eat.

One of my pet peeves are people who take more than what they can eat at buffets, justifying their behaviour by saying: “I paid for it, anyway.” What a lame excuse! It ends up with so much food wastage! In my opinion, they do not really appreciate the grace of God, the effort of those who prepared the food as well as the blessing from which the money to pay the buffet came from. Then I catch myself because I realise, I am judging them. I cannot presume to know their hearts. I am reminded of what the Lord tells Samuel: “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Hence, we cannot make rash judgements about certain situations because we do not really know the whole story. Would we say, for instance, that it is okay for men to disrespect a woman just because her dress is short? In the same way, we cannot conclude that a person’s mobile phone was stolen because he was not careful with his things. Of course, these victims could have acted more prudently but we cannot judge them as bad people deserving of their misfortune. This is flawed logic! We cannot simply blame the victim for instigating or inviting the criminal to commit the said crime. Let us remember that a person’s wrongdoing is always a matter of choice. They are not powerless to resist temptation. It is just that they choose to do bad things.

Another thing we are guilty of sometimes is passing judgements on other people’s faith. We look closely and critically at their observance or possibly their non-observance of some religious externals. If someone shows up at church almost every day and never misses a Sunday mass does this automatically mean that that person loves God? What if that person is a rude boss at work or a cruel employer to his househelps? Our being a Christian is manifested in our way of life. Sometimes, we also assume people are bad because of what we observe in them especially when it comes to the norms of our worship today.  We, Catholics who like to do novenas, rosary, processions, are often accused by persons of other faiths as those having a shallow faith. On the other hand, there are some from their ranks who like to quote the Bible but it doesn’t seem to be reflected in their life either. We can quote the Bible as we please but if the teachings of Jesus have no bearing in our life choices nor in our behaviour, we are simply mouthing the Bible uselessly. Have we forgotten that only God can really see the heart of each person? If we have been judged this way by others, we need not worry. We just keep on praying, doing good works and caring for others as we try to honour God in all that we do. That is what is more important.

Brothers and sisters, where is our heart? Is it in the right place? May we not focus so much on trivial externals. May our hearts be accordingly disposed, open and ready as we witness to our Christian faith. Let our hearts be centred on God. Only then can we say that our hearts are in the right place.