Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 29, 2021
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 125
Reading I
Moses said to the people:
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin upon you,
you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?”
Responsorial Psalm
- (1a) One who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Whoever walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heart
and slanders not with his tongue.
R. One who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
by whom the reprobate is despised,
while he honors those who fear the LORD.
R. One who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Who lends not his money at usury
and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
shall never be disturbed.
R. One who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Reading II
Dearest brothers and sisters:
All good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
He willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.
Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.
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.
Alleluia
- Alleluia, alleluia.
The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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.
—For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
And on coming from the marketplace
they do not eat without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds. —
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
“Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”
He responded,
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
He summoned the crowd again and said to them,
“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.
“From within people, from their hearts,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.”
Reflection: STANDING FOR TRUTH WITHOUT HYPOCRISY
John the Baptist stood for righteousness till his death. He could recognize the Messiah even when he was in the womb of this mother. As a grown-up man he again recognized the Messiah and introduced Jesus to the people as the Lamb of God, who would take the sins of the world. He spoke forthrightly about Herod's immorality, which cost him his life.
In today's gospel we see an official delegation of Pharisees and Scribes who come from Jerusalem to investigate what Jesus was doing. They strategize their moves. They do not involve Jesus directly, but first start a quarrel with his disciples who happen to eat with unwashed hands. This becomes the setting to confront Jesus himself. The issue has to do with Jesus who is responsible for this unritualistic behaviour of the disciples. Little do they realize that they are the ones who have transformed their elder's holy traditions to pretense and hypocrisy. In Albert Camus' novel, The Fall, the central figure is a nameless lawyer who tells his life story to a stranger he meets in a Dutch bar. The anonymous lawyer relates how he always prided himself on being a selfless servant of humanity, a noble man of virtue and generosity. But then one dark rainy night, something happened to shatter his selfrighteous image. As he was walking home over a bridge, he passed by a slim young woman leaning over the rail and staring into the river. Stirred by the sight of her, he hesitated a moment and then walked on. After crossing the bridge he heard a body striking the water, a cry repeated several time and then the midnight silence again. He wanted to do something to save her, but he stood there motionless for a while and then went home. This nameless lawyer in Camus' story reminds us in some ways of the Pharisees in today's gospel. The Pharisees were experts in the law and prided themselves on their scrupulous observance of it. And yet Jesus lashes out at them for their hypocrisy by quoting the prophet Isaiah: “This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me”. The lawyer in Camus' story also comes under judgment of James in the second reading. He had listened to God's word about loving one's neighbor, but was unable to act on it. He had deceived himself into thinking he was a selfless servant. Today there are lawyers who give free service to the poor, they defend their rights, fight on their behalf, fight against injustice. These are people who have heard God's word through the cry of the poor and have acted on it. We are called to do likewise. Jesus denounces hypocrisy and those who perpetuate it. Let us try and understand the meaning of hypocrisy. According to St Augustine, hypocrites are pretenders, 'who conceal under a mask what they are not'. Augustine traces the origin of the term to the Greek tragedies. In the Greek dramatic tradition one is called 'hypocrite' who acts the part of a character in a play. He is not the real person of history or legend which is acted, but impersonates him. He puts a mask and ceases to be a person. Thus he becomes a character. The main difference between a character and person is that while the person obeys his own convictions, the character obeys someone else's script. In other words, character is the corruption of the person because it lacks genuineness. When applied to real life, hypocrisy is an attempt to make one's life a theatre in which one acts for an audience. For Augustine, anyone who wishes to be seen as what he is not, is a hypocrite. If all we do is listen to the word of God without letting it penetrate into our hearts and move us to action, then we are no better than the Pharisees in the gospel or the lawyer in Camus' story. Are we content like the Pharisees or Camus' lawyer to merely observe in them what we feel convenient, self-serving and safe? Or are we willing to take risks, take on responsibility and live the commandments?