"God's will or our own?"

     “I want to give my life to knowing and understanding and living  of the revealed will of God”.

 

Our Lady of Lourdes　

  ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  　  

Genesis 1:20-2:4a*

(...) God said,

"Let us make man in our image, to our likeness. Let them rule over the fish of the sea,

over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over the wild animals, and over all creeping things that crawl along the ground."

So God created man in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (...)

 

God said, "I have given you every seed-bearing plant which is on the face of all the earth,

and every tree that bears fruit with seed. It will be for your food. To every wild animal,

to every bird of the sky, to everything that creeps along the ground, to everything that has the breath of life,

I give every green plant for food." So it was. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

 

There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.

That was the way the sky and earth were created and all their vast array.

By the seventh day the work God had done was completed, and he rested. (...)

 

Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊     　 

Mark 7:1-13

One day, the Pharisees gathered around Jesus, and with them were some teachers of the law who had just come from Jerusalem.

They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their meal with unclean hands,

that is, without washing them. Now the Pharisees, and in fact all the Jews, never eat without washing their hands,

for they follow the tradition received from their ancestors. Nor do they eat anything,

when they come from the market without first washing themselves.

And there are many other traditions they observe; for example, the ritual washing of cups, pots and plates.

 

So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law asked him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but eat with unclean hands?"

Jesus answered, "Your shallow people! How well Isaiah prophesied of you when he wrote:

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless,

for what they teach are only human rules. You even put aside the commandment of God to hold fast to human tradition."

 

And Jesus commented, "You have a fine way of disregarding the commandments of God in order to enforce your own traditions! For example,

Moses said: Do your duty to your father and your mother, and: Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.

But according to you, someone could say to his father or mother, 'l already declared Corban (which means "offered to God")

what you could have expected from me. In this case, you no longer require him to do anything for his father or mother;

and so you nullify the word of God through the tradition you have handed on. And you do many other things like that."

 

Gospel Reflection ：

Reflection:

The Pharisees rebuke Jesus for letting his disciples eat without first washing their hands.

This challenge is not so much about cleanliness as about tradition.

The Pharisees are saying that this washing should be adhered to because it is part of the religious tradition of their ancestors.

But this ritual purification on touching unclean things, as prescribed in Leviticus,

was expanded by the Pharisees themselves way beyond its original use and beyond its practice in other Jewish communities of the time.

 

Therefore, Jesus challenges them because the Pharisees' religion has lost its focus,

as it concentrates on keeping human regulations, and puts the Commandments of God in second place.

This is why Jesus quotes Isaiah's words: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me."

 

Which do we put first: God's will or our own? Are our hearts far from the Lord even though we say our prayers?

We need a purification of our hearts. This is part of the message of Lourdes.

We pray for the sick that they may be healed. We pray for ourselves, that we may be washed clean of our sins.