Daily Catholic Lectio
Tue, 6 February 2024
Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30. Mark 7:1-13
Tradition of elders
The Lord God gave the Ten Commandments (decalogue) to the people of Israel. These commandments were later modified into ordinances and expansions. During the time of Jesus, there were 613 laws that people had to obey and abide by. They were concerning dietary regulations, worship, purity, familial ties, and other day-to-day life realities.
The Pharisees were extreme in observing these laws. Others were either ignorant of these laws or unmindful of them. In today’s gospel reading, the Pharisees and the scribes take offence at Jesus’ disciples, for they ate with unclean (unwashed) hands. They took offence at them for three reasons: (a) Since they transgress the law, Jesus, who is their master and who does not correct them, also transgresses the law; (b) The disciples are ignorant peasants from Galilee; and (c) Jesus is not a rabbi according to Pharisaic standards.
When the Pharisees and the scribes complained to Jesus about his disciples’ transgression of the law, Jesus, instead of answering the matter in question, took them to a different level of reflection. He makes them understand the difference between ‘God’s commandment’ and ‘human tradition.’ He exhorts them to get rid of human tradition (the tradition of elders) and to embrace the commandment of God. By citing the words of the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus underlines that this digression has been there for many years.
Jesus gives them an example. ‘Honour your father and mother’ is the fifth commandment of the Lord (cf. Exod 20:12). But, as the days passed by, people, instead of taking care of their parents, found a cultic replacement. For, taking care of the parents would involve time, energy, and money. This is heavy. The easy solution they found was to make an offering (‘corban’) to the temple. If the offering is made, one is relieved of his or her duties towards the parents. The tradition of the elders, instead of making the people do what is right, led them to do what is easy. It created space to disown their personal and filial responsibility.
To the Pharisees and the scribes, who presumed that one is pure by observing the external purity of washing the hands and the vessels, Jesus says, “It is not external purity that matters, but internal purity that makes us close to God.”
What does Jesus teach them and us?
(a) We are called to do what is right, not what is easy.
(b) Personal responsibility is more important than our commitment to the temple or to the tradition of elders.
(c) External cleanliness makes us live close to human persons, while internal cleanliness makes us live close to God. It is necessary that we establish closeness with God.
In the first reading, King Solomon dedicates to the Lord the temple that he built. Standing as a high priest in between God and people, he prays, ‘May your eyes be upon this place day and night.’
The assurance that God’s eyes are on us day and night must not evoke fear in us; rather, they must console us and give us hope. Hagar received such consolation and hope, and she said, “I have seen the one who sees me” (cf. Gen 16:13). With courage, she returned to her mistress, Sarah. (cf. Jubilee A. D. 2025, bite 24).
Since God’s eyes are on everyone day and night, let us not judge, envy, or frighten others.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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