Why do we do these things?

I see many people criticize the Church. They claim that all of the rules are 'manmade' and that none of this outward stuff can make a difference. That's not what Jesus had to say about the matter. Jesus instructed the people about the Scribes and Pharisees, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach, but they do not practice." (Matthew 23:2-3 NAB) He then went on to establish Peter his 'Prime Minister' to guide his Church until the day when he returns.

How then are we to take this reading from the Gospel today in which Jesus says: "Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person, but the things that come out from within are what defile." (Mark 7:14-15 NAB) If nothing that enters me from the outside can defile me, then nothing from outside can make me Holy either. What Jesus came to destroy was not religion itself, but the hollow practice of it that does not involve an internal change.

The Pharisees knew what to do, and they did the external things, but their hearts never changed. They made up all these rules that were hard to follow, and they had the authority to do so and then didn't live up to them in their own lives. That's why Jesus called them "whitewashed tombs." In public, they gave the appearance of men who had been reformed by the love of God, but internally they were still the same hateful men they had always been. Often using the law itself to avoid doing the good they knew to do.

How then should we live our lives? Solomon was the wisest of all men. His kingdom was the most prosperous kingdom in the Israelite history, rivaling even that of his father, David. It was when Solomon began to pull his heart away from God toward other things that it all started to fall apart. Civil war broke out and the kingdom fell apart. Our own lives will do the same. As long as we put God first, everything will be as it should be. When we allow anything to get in the place that God should be, our soul becomes a battleground. It's not a battle we can win on our own.

That's why Jesus gave us the Sacraments. That is why God gave us a Church. A place of refuge in this war where we can gain the strength and grace we need to continue fighting. Then he gave us Sacramental signs to use in our daily lives. Sacred Scripture, the sign of the cross, holy water, the rosary, and scapulars to name a few. These, however, are not magic amulets or incantations. When we use them, we must also have a change of heart, a metanoia. That's what Confession is all about. That is also what the season of Lent reminds us to do. Are you thinking about that yet? How can you change the inside so that when we do these external signs and symbols, when we receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we can get out of the way and let Him change us?

A reflection on the readings for Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 331

1 KGS 10:1-10 PS 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40 MK 7:14-23