Today’s readings are a powerful reminder of how we, as individuals, as a nation, as a society, as a Church, relate to those around us and how we treat one another by what is in our hearts, minds, and souls.
A good example of what can happen to this relationship took place about two weeks ago. One morning I got up very early, like 4:30 A.M. I was going out to hook into and hopefully land that elusive but majestic Pink Salmon. Well, when I reached my fishing destination, it was still dark but I could see the sky beginning to get bright. I knew I was in God’s country.
All of a sudden the sun came up lighting up the beach and the water. I began to fish. I thought to myself, O.K. God, I got up very early. Show me the fish. After about 30 minutes or so, the beach where I was fishing began to overflow with other fishermen. Most seemed very courteous and friendly except the one who decided to fish just a couple of feet from me.
You see, he saw me hook and lose a fish so he moved right in. That was O.K. I still was in God’s country. I said good morning, without a response back. This man then proceeded to fix his pole for that first cast. I was really hoping he would catch a fish. I was in God’s country with company. Here comes the first cast right over my line. I thought what would happen if, at that point I hooked into the big one.
All of a sudden, I was not in God’s country anymore. Someone was trying to lead me astray. The devil, I would imagine. I was getting so mad that, instead of saying something awful to the man, I picked up all my gear and left.
Now, that was not so bad. I held my temper, or did I? My heart was becoming hardened. I did not have what I should have had in my heart. As Jesus reminds us in this morning’s gospel, it is what comes from within that defiles.
It wasn’t the fact that he was in my space, it’s what I was feeling inside that was the cause of my anger toward him. I was only worried about myself. The right thing to do would have been to help that man or at least offer, for he sure could have used it.
In the gospel we hear about dirt under the nails. Having dirt or mud under ones nails comes from doing something outside the body. The deeds of evil come from within and are not erased by washing hands. The list of interior attitudes is quite extensive and encompassing. Jesus did not mince words or leave much to legal interpretation. Worship of God comes from the heart, but the heart hears other calls as well that can infiltrate and defile.
If our minds and hearts are full of God’s love, then we are living through his words and truly we are the children of God, living in his image and likeness through Jesus Christ. If I was living this way at that point in time I probably would have reacted differently. I would have heard the right call. As we hear in today’s gospel, if our hearts are full of this worlds temptations, evil thoughts: un-chastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, hatred, (The list goes on and on) we are not living our lives the way God had intended.
It would be untrue to imagine that the Scribes and the Pharisees in today’s gospel really understood the laws that they, by their position, were to uphold. They let the law get in the way of the heart, which is the backbone of the law.
The law was given to enhance their relationship with God.
There are still those, and sad to say, even in our tradition today, whom religion is still a matter of blind obedience to the external rule and forgetting the matter of the heart, from which flows love and compassion. There are still those who disregard that serving God is to be found in total living, living from not only the mind but also the heart. Without the heart we cannot live and it is so with our spiritual lives as well.
To live the way God intended is not to add or subtract from that which makes us Christian, that which makes us Catholic. Those who attempt to reduce or change it to fit their own agenda their own needs, are doing just that. There is to be found an abundance of love and grace in keeping true to scripture, our tradition, our Church, by allowing our hearts to be transformed by God’s love.
How do we do that? To be an effective Catholic in the world today requires that we do much more than just go to Sunday Mass and avoiding major sins. We are charged at the end of Sunday Mass to go out to love and serve the Lord. This is the call to evangelize by living our lives not in self-indulgence, but in the love and compassion for others that comes from the heart, receiving strength to do so by the sacrifice we come here to accept through the Eucharist.
Today’s reading from St. James puts it all into context in a very understandable way. He says: “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.” Sounds like our charge at the end of Mass!! Have we been accepting this charge, this call?
In our human nature, we break things apart so that we can come to a deeper understanding. Jesus is telling us to do just that. Let his words enter into not only our minds but in our hearts. This is where we will receive the full affect of what he is telling us. This is where the “rubber meets the road.”
In retrospect, I now think back to that morning of fishing and see that maybe that fisherman, who moved next to me, also felt he was in God’s country.
Last night at the 5 P.M. Mass, those present had the pleasure of witnessing the baptism of baby Cruz Patrick Hezel. The parents and godparents took an oath with God to raise baby Cruz in the faith. As a part of the body of Christ, we too take on the responsibility of being the example and teacher of the faith for baby Cruz and all who enter into and are a part of this body. We do this by living in God’s love, treating everyone with this love even those who seem to put us on edge.
My sisters and brothers in Christ; let us hear what God’s words are telling us in Holy Scripture. Let us live by the infusion of God’s love in our minds and hearts ands souls sharing this love with others around us. Let us also be the example of faith lived not just faith spoken. Let us be the example to baby Cruz and others of the love of our savior, Jesus Christ.
So let us pray with dirty hands and cleaner hearts to extend those dirty hands in praise of the God who dirtied himself by walking in our mud.