"This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless, the doctrines they teach are only human regulations." (Mark 7:6-7 citing Isaiah 29:13)
In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus attacks the ritual washing of the Pharisees and scribes as empty, man-made ceremonies.
Jesus does not want us to wash our hands but he himself wants to wash our hearts, so we can serve the needy.
In the second reading St James describes authentic religious "washing", which leads us to service: "Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world." (1:27)
Sin does not come from our external circumstances, but from inside, so we need our hearts not our hands to be cleansed. Sometimes we blame our circumstances, but everything from outside, even suffering, is a blessing thanks to God’s providence: "It is all that is good, everything that is perfect, which is given us from above." (James 1:17)
God wants to change our hearts much more than he wants to change our circumstances. In fact he uses our circumstances to change our hearts.
Our temptation is to change God’s laws rather than let him change us. In the first reading, Moses was emphatic: "You must add nothing to what I command you, and take nothing from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God just as I lay them down for you." (Deuteronomy 4:2) And St James in the second reading warned against self-deception: "You must do what the word tells you, and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves." (1:22)
Sometimes our self-made laws are subtle. Do I allow false statements to dominate me, such as: "I must achieve this" or "if this relationship fails I will always be lonely" or "if I make that mistake I will never be happy"?
Let’s allow Jesus to wash our hearts from self-made laws with the blood and water flowing from his heart in the sacraments.
And if we hesitate to open our hearts to him, let us follow Peter’s example at the Last Supper: "Peter said to him, 'You will never wash my feet'. Jesus answered, 'Unless I wash you, you have no share with me'. Simon Peter said to him, 'Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!'"(John 13:8-9)
