Church of the
Annunciation

We are in season of controversy and debate. In a democracy, it is called election time. Jesus is in debate with the Pharisees and scribes. Pharisees are lay leaders who are zealous in living their Jewish faith at home and in the market place. They observe the disciples of Jesus eating without washing their hands. It is not a concern for proper hygiene but for ritual purity. Jesus points out that they are so caught up in customs, traditions and rituals that they are forgetting the commandments. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus summarizes and prioritizes all commandments into two: The greatest commandment is love God with all your heart, mind and soul; and the second commandment is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. In the letter of St. James (2^nd reading) the author writes that true religion is care for orphans and widows and keeping one’s heart  unstained by the world. Jesus uses a hard word. He calls the Pharisees -- hypocrites! The word is from Greek drama meaning a pretender or actor -- one who plays a role. The Pharisees, for all their good intentions about living the covenant in private and in public, are more concerned about how they appear to others. Jesus calls them (and us) to the very difficult introspection and honesty of examining our hearts. There we find deadly inclinations to sin: anger, malice, greed, envy, lust. A person is defiled, not by not washing hands, but by darkness within the grips the soul and leads to sinful behavior. Jesus is challenging the Pharisees, the scribes and his own disciples to greater fidelity to the commandments, to personal honesty and to integrity. St. James urges that we should be doers of the word and not just listeners.