Greetings on this the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Dt 4:1-2, 6-8; Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5; Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Psalmist urges us to live in the presence of the Lord
- Walk blamelessly.
- Do justice.
- Think the truth in his heart.
- Slanders not with his tongue.
- Who harms not his fellow man.
- Does not takes up a reproach against his neighbor.
- The reprobate is despised (avoided).
- Honor those who fear the LORD.
- Who lends not his money at usury.
- Accepts no bribe against the innocent.
Summary
Junk Thoughts as Junk Food
- Evil thoughts
- Unchastity
- Theft
- Murder
- Adultery
- Greed
- Malice
- Deceit
- Licentiousness
- Envy
- Blasphemy
- Arrogance
- Folly
All these evils come from within and they defile.
Reflection
Jesus was none too happy about us playing the role and acting the apparent good. It is a mockery of the actual good.
Dearest brothers and sisters: All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. A good with an evil intention is no good at all.
Even more so, these things are the food we serve ourselves from within ourselves.
Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.
Personal Reflection
I eat junk food. All the time. It’s bad for me and has undesirable health consequences. It’s a tradition. Growing up in the 1960’s the food supply chain changed drastically. Additives, artificial ingredients, over-portioned sugar & salt, pesticides and, now, GMOs, are the mainstay of our diet in the overall. It’s tradition. It’s deadly.
I think it is a reasonable analogy to describe junk food with junk traditions. They seem right, seem good. They may even be really innocuous in and of themselves. But when they substitute for the real thing — disaster!
Apparent good is the junk food of hypocrisy. Actual good is the Lord. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Sacred Readings
Full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090124.cfm
First Reading
Moses said to the people: “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe.
Responsorial
Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.
The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Second Reading
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Gospel Acclamation
The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Gospel
When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry
Great share !
Thank you, Dr.