Daily Readings - Sun Sep 02 2018

¹Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.²Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.⁶Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."⁷What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?⁸And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

James

Chapter 1

¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.¹⁸He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Mark

Chapter 7

¹The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and²saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed.³(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.⁴When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. )⁵So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"⁶He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.⁷They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'⁸You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."¹⁴Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.¹⁵Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'"²¹For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,²²greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.²³All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'"

Sermon

Today’s readings invite us to reflect on the relationship between faith, tradition, and the heart. In the first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the Israelites of the importance of following God’s commandments without adding or subtracting from them. This emphasizes the sacredness of God’s word and the need to live by it. The reading from James complements this by urging us to be “doers of the word” and not merely listeners. True religion, James says, is about caring for the vulnerable and keeping oneself pure in a world often dominated by sin. The Gospel from Mark challenges us to examine our priorities. Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for focusing on external rituals, like washing hands, while neglecting the deeper truths of God’s commandments. He reminds us that what defiles a person comes not from outside but from the heart—evil thoughts, adulteries, murders, and greed. These readings are connected by a common theme: the call to live a life of integrity and authenticity. Deuteronomy warns against distorting God’s word, James emphasizes putting faith into action, and Mark’s Gospel exposes the hypocrisy of prioritizing human traditions over God’s will. Together, they remind us that true faith is not about outward appearances or rituals but about the condition of our hearts and how we live out our beliefs in daily life. As we apply these readings to our lives, let us ask ourselves: Are we living by God’s word, or are we adding our own twists to it? Are we merely going through the motions of faith, or are we allowing it to transform us from within? Let us strive to be people of integrity, whose actions reflect the love and justice of God. May we keep our hearts pure and our lives aligned with the teachings of Christ, so that we may truly be his disciples, living in a way that honors him not just with our lips but with our lives.