Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Pure and Sincere Hearts
Introduction
The Old Testament heaps praise on Solomon as the typical wise man, who understood the meaning of life, of the world, of right and wrong. People came to him from distant countries to seek his advice. And yet, as we know, in later life at least, his wisdom was not powerful enough to keep him humbly oriented towards God. His heart became divided.
Gospel. Divided too, were the hearts of the Pharisees, as Jesus points out in the Gospel; their interior attitude did not correspond to their outward practices. The question of pure/impure was very important for the early Church, as it was one of the strongest traditions of the Jews and a point of contention for them. Hence, the Christians coming from Jewry asked themselves whether they could eat from the same table as non-Jews. According to Mark, in the light of creation that sees all foods as good and pure, in the kingdom, the rules about food are abolished.
Opening Prayer
Father, God of the ever-new covenant,
you have tied us to yourself
with leading strings of everlasting love;
the words you speak to us are spirit and life.
May your Spirit make us look at the commandments
not as a set of observances.
May they move us to serve you
not in a slavish way, but as your sons and daughters
who love you and whom you have set free
through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
First Reading: 1 Kgs 10:1-10
came to test him with subtle questions.
She arrived in Jerusalem with a very numerous retinue,
and with camels bearing spices,
a large amount of gold, and precious stones.
She came to Solomon and questioned him on every subject
in which she was interested.
King Solomon explained everything she asked about,
and there remained nothing hidden from him
that he could not explain to her.
When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom,
the palace he had built, the food at his table,
the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters,
his banquet service,
and the burnt offerings he offered in the temple of the LORD,
she was breathless.
“The report I heard in my country
about your deeds and your wisdom is true,” she told the king.
“Though I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes,
I have discovered that they were not telling me the half.
Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard.
Blessed are your men, blessed these servants of yours,
who stand before you always and listen to your wisdom.
Blessed be the LORD, your God,
whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of Israel.
In his enduring love for Israel,
the LORD has made you king to carry out judgment and justice.”
Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty gold talents,
a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones.
Never again did anyone bring such an abundance of spices
as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Responsorial Psalm
Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom
and his tongue utters what is right.
The law of his God is in his heart,
and his steps do not falter.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
Alleluia
Your word, O Lord, is truth:
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Mk 7:14-23
“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.”
When he got home away from the crowd
his disciples questioned him about the parable.
He said to them,
“Are even you likewise without understanding?
Do you not realize that everything
that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,
since it enters not the heart but the stomach
and passes out into the latrine?”
(Thus he declared all foods clean.)
“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.”
Intercessions
– For families plagued by quarrels and division, that the Lord may bless them with peace, we pray:
– For all the Churches that invoke the name of Christ, that they may accept the invitation of our Lord to eat with him from the table of unity and love, we pray:
– That the Spirit may keep lawmakers today distinguishing between good and evil, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
we bring before you our readiness
to respond to your love.
We ask you that these gifts of bread and wine
may become the body and blood
of your Son, Jesus Christ,
that with him we may be dedicated to you
with our whole mind and heart,
and that we may be capable
of communicating your love and justice
to all those around us.
Grant us this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
your Son, Jesus, has shared himself with us
in this Eucharistic celebration.
Purify our hearts and intentions,
that we may also share in his attitude
of openness to your will
and to the needs of people.
May we thus, fulfill more than the law
and serve you as your sons and daughters,
in whom you recognize Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever.
Blessing
Commandments are not just observances that guarantee our salvation. They are a response to all God has given us. We ask God not what we are obliged to do, but what he expects us to do to respond to his love. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Reflection:
7 February 2024
Mark 7:14-23
God has taken a huge gamble
Where does evil come from? In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us that our heart is the source of all human behaviour, whether good or bad. Jesus focuses on the human heart, the abode of all good and bad choices. Outward observance of rituals and traditions does not make us holy, nor do they help us to please God.
Jewish traditions insisted on ritual purity to protect God’s chosen people from everything associated with pagans – non-Jews or unclean animals. People observed them out of fear of God’s punishment.
Do our religious observances, prayers, or even attending Mass arise out of fear of God’s punishment? If we go to Mass to fulfil the days of obligation, how are we different from the religious scholars of Jesus’ time?
The greatest gift of God to human beings is the gift of “freedom.” Humans alone have the ability to choose. The Book of Genesis presented the problem of freedom within the poetic context of the forbidden fruit. Care should be taken not to envision a literal tree or even a literal apple. The author presents the tree as a symbol of the fact that we are called to choose real good, not what looks like good.
God took a huge gamble when he granted the humans with the gift of freedom. He ran the risk that we would abuse our freedom, yet God granted us freedom because he wants us to return his love voluntarily.
The fact that we are at this Mass shows that we have freely chosen to show our love for God through the celebration of Mass. The same is the case with all evil behaviours – it is up to us to choose from the heart whether we want to be good or bad.