Today’s liturgy invites us to face very important question

Why?

Why do we do what we do?

Why do we have 10 commandments? Why do we come on Sunday to the church

Why we are not suppose to work on Sunday or do shopping

And why everyone does it ?

Why do you kneel in the church, do sign of the cross or stand for the Gospel?

Gospel MK 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

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.”

 

We all have many different habits, rules and laws

And because they become obvious part of our lives we may with time forget why we do what we do.

And if this happen we may easily give up doing some important things because we won’t see their value any more.

Yes, society changes,

The way we live is very different than 20 years ago while I was kid or 40 years ago..

But God doesn’t change

And he challenges us, for our own sake

To ask why I’m doing what I’m doing

Is it really right and good for me, my family, my faith,

Or do I do it because everyone does it too

And once again we can say that:

Everyone goes shopping on Sunday,

Everyone cuts the grass on Sunday, even some churches cut the grass on Sunday too,

Everyone watches those unmoral shows in TV

Everyone gives their children iPods, iPhones, tablets to be used all the time so there is some silence in the house

So I do it to..

This is the life father! It’s not big deal,

Just take it easy, go with the flow..

 

If that would be right, then why not everyone is happy?

Why so many struggles in marriages, so many addictions and broken families,

Why so many young people are lost in their lives?

Why it doesn’t really work without God, without real love, without prayer, without discipline?

 

Pharisees exchange Gods commandments, for their own 600 rules,

and it kept them pretty busy and far away from true worship as St James remind us:

Taking care of the poor, widows, homeless, those in prison. From bringing God to others

And they wanted to impose their traditions on everyone else..

But Jesus says no!!!

 

Some how we let that same happen to us.

We let others take away time designated to be time for God, family, service to others..

 

No.

Let us beg Holy Spirit to awake our minds, our common sense, our thinking

So as a Christians we may live more as humans, not robots,

As a humans who love, think, care, and don’t do what everyone else do

We need to be the salt of the earth

We need to become salty once again

 

It just occurred to me that I might be preaching to the choir

That you who come for Sunday masses on regular base, you really live the Gospel values in your daily life

You take care of sick, poor and dying

You spend time with God and your families rising up generation of people who know what is good and what’s not

You even don’t watch unmoral shows and sacrifice a lot to fallow Jesus.

Then the question would be how we can spread His love, truth, presence to those who are far a way?

How we so imperfect can change the world? Make it better place to live?