Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday - 6th February 2024
Abbot Paul • February 5, 2024
During the pandemic, we became much more aware of the need for good hygiene. How easy it is to become careless and lax in our ways. We never thought that we would see the day when we would be shown endlessly on television and at motorway service stations, for example, how to wash our hands correctly or how to cough and blow our noses. Still, it’s important to strike a balance between what is essential and what is exaggerated. Many religious customs and practices have their origins in primitive norms of hygiene. This is certainly true of the intricate details of the Law found in the Old Testament. You can read these in the books of Leviticus and Numbers, based as they are on Exodus and Deuteronomy. Some might have become obsolete with time, but, in general, many hold good even to this day, prevention being better than cure. They are the practical application of the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. It is our duty to care for others, as it is their duty to care for us.
I mention this as today’s long Gospel passage from Mark, (Mk 7: 1-13), describes an argument between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees on this very subject. Now it’s not that Jesus doesn’t want his disciples to keep basic rules of hygiene such as washing their hands before eating, but he does object to these becoming a religious observance by which religious leaders can have control and domination over ordinary folk. Jesus says to them, “It was of you hypocrites that Isaiah so rightly prophesied in this passage of scripture:
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.
You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.”
It is the hypocrisy of religious leaders that Jesus objects to and the fact that something so obvious as washing our hands should have become a religious observance or scruple. He goes on to criticise them for something more serious, saying, “How ingeniously you get round the commandment of God in order to preserve your own tradition! For Moses said: Do your duty to your father and your mother, and, whoever curses father or mother must be put to death. But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother: Anything I have that I might have used to help you is Corban (that is, dedicated to God), then he is forbidden from that moment to do anything for his father or mother.’ In this way you make God’s word null and void for the sake of your tradition which you have handed down. And you do many other things like this.” It’s clear in Jesus’ mind that the interpretation of the Law taught by the scribes and Pharisees contradicts the Law rather than explains it, thus causing people to sin gravely. Jesus wants his disciples to observe the spirit of the Law and to err always of the side of generosity and respect.
Lord, help us to follow your teaching in our dealings with others, putting them and their needs before our own. May we never become Pharisaic in heart and mind, but always reflect your love and mercy. Amen.
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