22nd Sunday in ordinary time. Today’s readings: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
I always get a kick out of observing contradictions in behaviour. A friend of mine is very careful about his diet. His health matters, he says. He avoids junk food and is a devout vegetarian because, he says, he cannot tolerate the suffering of animals. Yet he is a chain smoker and hunting is his passion.
These contradictions are everywhere you look. In Malta we have our fair share of them.
We preach the liberation of women but are not willing to lift a finger to safeguard their rights. We fill our social media news feeds with posts on inclusion, equality and justice, yet we do not bother to change the structures that create exclusion, inequality and injustice.
We say we are concerned about mental health, but we do not address the environmental factors that contribute to anxiety and depression, including the rampant use of so-called “soft drugs”, high-rises at every other corner, and the pitiful state of traffic.
We are good at joining the rallying calls in favour of women, for inclusion and for the environment, but deep down we might only be doing so only to score brownie points and gain political mileage.
If our heart is not really oriented towards the dignity of women and men alike, of the disenfranchised, and defence of an integral ecology, then all we say and do would be nothing but hot air.
We fill our social media news feeds with posts on inclusion, equality and justice, yet we do not bother to change the structures that create exclusion, inequality and injustice
When the Pharisees accuse Jesus’s disciples of not following the traditions of their ancestors by not washing their hands before meals, Jesus cannot resist launching a scathing attack against lip service.
The reference to meals cannot be passed over. Meals are moments of trust and of sharing. They are emblematic of communion with one another. Now for the Pharisees, their greatest concern was whether those who partook of the meal obeyed the minutiae of the purification laws.
Jesus’s concern, in contrast, was whether those who partook of the meal lived indeed in communion with one another or not. In other words, what really mattered to him was what abided in their heart. For Jesus, what made them worthy of their eating together, of their companionship, was not their observance of their ancestors’ laws, but their being in communion with Christ, who is himself the New Law.
Like a coach who knows that her athlete is capable of doing more, Jesus prods us and challenges us to shed our childhood ways and embrace a more mature and seasoned faith.
This all boils down to cultivating the heart rather than engaging in external practices for their own sake. Not once or twice have I caught myself being overzealous about minor precepts, perhaps even being ostentatious about them, only to admit in retrospect that I had done so to quieten my conscience, to save face with others, or to buy God’s favour.
This is why Jesus warns his disciples that they need to heed what is going on in their heart. It is from there that all good and all evil comes. He even makes a list: “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.”
Chastity: Reconciliation of the Senses, by Erik VardenTo this effect, in his book Chastity: Reconciliation of the Senses, Erik Varden speaks of the journey that the heart is to undertake if it is to become more authentic. Varden speaks of adopting a contemplative gaze, one that is “released of preconceptions”. In other words, a gaze that “encounters the other as other, with wonder”.
Such an attitude frees us from seeing the other as an object to be used and exploited in any way. Such is the clean heart that in turn, makes our external actions pure, meaningful, and authentic.
In Malta, pious traditions are certainly not lacking. Let us ensure they also reflect what goes on in our heart.