Pastor's Letter -- August 29th, 2021

Greetings of peace and good will to you and your households!

The tension in the relationship between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day is once again highlighted in the Gospel reading for this weekend. In the question addressed to Jesus, the Pharisees ask: “why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” Given their disposition to Jesus, we could argue that they were not seeking for information as to why his disciples did not wash their hands before eating. They were essentially challenging Jesus’ ministry. It seems to be a common tactic to find faults in things a person does or neglects to do when one is unable to find fault in who they are. It is not unusual to receive criticisms from non-Catholics who accuse Catholics of observing human traditions. They refer to this passage of scripture as proof to repudiate our preservation of the teachings of the Fathers that have come to us through centuries. They seem to suggest that Jesus is against any tradition. But is this what we hear in the Gospel reading we have before us in this weekend’s liturgy?

Jesus’ rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees did not constitute a repudiation of every tradition, as not every tradition is evil. But what do we mean by tradition? Tradition hands on something precious from one generation to the next. Jesus observed the Jewish tradition of going to the temple to pray. His apostles did the same. Jesus called the tradition of the Pharisees ‘the tradition of men.’ He distinguishes that from the tradition of God handed on to the people by Moses. The Pharisees were selective as to what Law of Moses they held on to. And their adherence to the law was informed by how suitable it was to promote their interest. This explains why Jesus was always at loggerheads with them. They imposed the observance on others but they were not careful to observe these same laws themselves. We are urged by the second reading from St. James to “be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves…”

I wonder if Jesus would have been as frontal in his attack as he was with the scribes and Pharisees had they kept God’s laws while observing what could be called human traditions. To hold on to human tradition while ignoring or abandoning the commandments of God is to misplace our priorities. Our lives are built around unwritten codes of behavior – we wake up at a certain time everyday, get a cup of coffee, or say our prayers (hopefully), get some exercise (my wish), get in our cars, drive to work using same routes, do same routine daily/weekly, shop at particular stores, buy particular brands of groceries, celebrate birthdays, give gifts or flowers to our loved ones, gather together for 4th of July or Thanksgiving, eat our desserts after meals, etc. These are some examples of traditions we have adopted without much questioning. They are human traditions. And to the extent that they do not prevent us from obeying God’s laws, they are not likely to attract condemnation from Jesus.

Jesus rebukes the Pharisees as hypocrites, because they pervert God’s commandments to cling to human traditions. The word ‘hypocrite’ that Jesus uses in speaking of the religious leaders comes from the Greek word for ‘actor’ or ‘stage player’. It means one who projects a persona other than who they really are. Many of us grew up loving a particular character in a movie, and we often experience some sort of cognitive dissonance when they acted a different character in another movie. This is possible because they were stage playing. We might all have an idea of what it is to be a fake, and we applaud people who are true to who they say they are even when their true selves leave something to be desired. In John’s gospel, Jesus addresses Nathanael, who had just dismissed Jesus on the basis of his native village, as someone who was ‘incapable of deceit,’ or, in another translation, a man ‘in whom there was guile,’ ‘a person without duplicity.’ In today’s expression, we might say of someone by way of complement, ‘what you see is what you get.’ At the heart of our calling as followers of Jesus is to be truthful rather than deceptive.

Very often we get preoccupied with the externalities of religion but ignore the essentials. The Pharisees were particular about washing the outside of cups, jugs and kettles, and the washing of hands before eating, but ignored the commandment to love and the call to holiness. They publicized their prayers by loud and exuberant display of religiosity but dealt cruelly and unjustly with widows and orphans. As Jesus charges, they are the blind guides of the blind (Matt. 15:14)
who would go through so much trouble to win a single convert, and then make them twice as fit for hell as themselves (Matt. 23:15)

Like the Pharisees, we too could be bad actors. How often are we quick to see the bad in people and fail to acknowledge the good in them? Are we not quick to correct others’ perceived wrongdoing while failing to repent of our own wrongdoings? Jesus’ response to his interlocutors offers us a moment for deep reflection. Quoting Isaiah, he said, “this people honors me with the lips, but their hearts are far from me…” How are our hearts in sync with what we profess with our lips? In summary, there must be a harmony of creedal confession and the manner we live our lives. We cannot be Christians in name only, or just be badge-carrying members of a parish, when our lives are not transformed by the faith we profess.

May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you!
With blessings from my heart,