Far from the heart

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

We will see how the Pharisees go down from Jerusalem to find Jesus. The Pharisees and the Scribes are not looking for Jesus to learn from him, rather they want to find proof to be able to accuse him. In this Gospel, we see how they seize the opportunity to accuse the disciples for not washing their hands. This was not simply a hygienic washing of hands, but it was a ritual. The ritual originated as a thanksgiving to God for all the good things he provided. In time, traditions increased, and so did, the requirements imposed by the ritual. Thus, the original significance and scope of the ritual was also lost.

The Pharisees accuse Jesus, that his disciples where neglecting their religious traditions. Jesus does not fall into their trap. Instead he turns the table on them! He calls them, hypocrites. Jesus chastises them, since for them, rituals and traditions were too important. They followed these rites boastfully in front of the people, feeling better than others. They did not do this for the love of God, as much as they did it for their own glory. They had no love or compassion in their hearts. For Jesus it mattered much more, what a person had in his heart. The relationship someone had with God, could not be measured only through the observance of traditions. Jesus admonishes even us today. When we do something, we should ask ourselves the motives behind our actions. For example, we should ask, why do we go to mass on Sunday? When I give charity, do I do it in the presence of others, so that they witness my actions, or do I give charity in an anonymous way? Do I send my children for catechesis, so that I conform myself to the behaviour of the others and so that my children can celebrate their First Holy Communion and Confirmation like the rest, or do I send them because I believe in the importance of Christian formation?

Jesus warns us. A person can only give from what is within him. If his heart is full of jealousy, that person cannot love or help others. Jesus lists these bad qualities that a person may harbour in his heart: “evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.” No amount of washing of hands can clean these bad qualities. Instead, it is only the Word of God and one’s acceptance of this Word to change him and clean his heart.

The laws of God are to be the most important in our lives. We should be led by them. However, to be able to do so, we need a formed conscience. This will help us to choose, not according to our feelings and thoughts, but according to God’s will. Our conscience is formed when we read the Word of God, from the teachings of the Church, from homilies, from discussions with a spiritual director, for the witness of other Christians.

A reading from the Gospel of Mark (Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23) 

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.  For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves.  And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.  So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”  He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”

He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand.  Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

  1. Read the Gospel story so that you are familiar with it.
  2. Reflect on what the Gospel is saying to you. Which points would you highlight and why?
  3. When we do an examination of conscience, we will be seeing whether or not we are living according to God’s will. We should not only do an examination of conscience before going for confession, but we should do it more regularly, preferably, even daily. If this is not part of your routine, find time during this week and ask yourself these questions:
    a. How important is prayer in my daily life?
    b. Do I trust God, or do I trust my abilities or others, more?
    c. What example do I give to others?
    d. How do I behave with my family, friends, colleagues?
    e. Do I respect myself and others?
    f. How do I use social media?
  4. Today Jesus shows us the qualities we should not have. The Psalm on the other hand, gives a model on which to shape our lives. Read it slowly and make this your prayer:
    The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
    Whoever walks blamelessly and does justice;
        who thinks the truth in his heart
        and slanders not with his tongue.

    Who harms not his fellow man,
    nor takes up a reproach against his neighbour;
    by whom the reprobate is despised,
    while he honours those who fear the LORD.

    Who lends not his money at usury
        and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
    Whoever does these things
        shall never be disturbed.
  5. Together with your family find the right time to read this gospel. The environment helps, so before you start, prepare:
    i. The Bible reading from St Mark (7:1-8,14-15,21-23)
    ii. A candle
    iii. Cover the table with a green clot
    iv. A jug with water, a basin, a towel
    v. A computer/laptop with the reading and clips
  6. Go through the steps with your children (2 age groups are being suggested)
  7. Feel free to adapt to your situation
  8. Be creative 😊
  9. Go to the Prayer Corner section to continue praying as a family

Today we are going to meet some people, called Pharisees. The Pharisees studied the laws of God, however they did not live the way God wanted! The Pharisees notice that Jesus’ followers were not obeying the religious traditions so they ask Jesus, why he is allowing this behaviour.

  • Jesus teaches us that not all that looks beautiful is good
  • Photograph of the child/children
  • A4 construction paper
  • Heart (see template)
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Pencil / colours
  • Two boxes (or more, according to the number of children). Wrap one of the boxes in beautiful wrapping paper, and the other in thorn paper or newspaper
  • A packet of sweets, or a chocolate or a small gift (put this in the box wrapped in thorn paper or newspaper)
  • An empty packet of sweets, a chocolate wrapper or a broken toy (put this in the beautifully wrapped box)
activityDownload

Today’s activity will start through the reception of a gift! (parents show the boxes)

You are free to choose the gift that you want.
Why did you choose this box and not the other one?
What do you think is inside the box?

The children may open their box.
What did you find?
Do you like what you found?
Why?

We generally expect that when something looks ugly, it is not good. At times, we see someone who is not clean, and his clothes are dirty and thorn, and we think that that person is not a good person. However, if we see someone, who is well dressed and who smells nice, we think, that that person is good. Today Jesus warns us to be careful. It is not true that a poor, dirty person is bad. Neither is a well-dressed person necessarily good. When we saw the beautifully wrapped box, we expected to find a nice gift inside. We did not expect to find the sweets/chocolate/gift in the ugly wrapped box! Jesus tells us that God is not really bothered by the way that we look on the outside. God cares much more about the way that we are on the inside. God wants us to love others, to help others, to share what we have, to pray, to enjoy going to church, to say the truth. God does not want us to be angry, to fight, to lie, and not behave in church.

Jesus was not angry at the Pharisees because they washed their hands before eating! He was angry because they believed that by obeying these rules they were pleasing God. God knew that although they obeyed all these rules, their hearts were not full of good qualities. They did not care about others, they did not help others. They thought they were special and better than the rest.

How can we have clean, beautiful hearts?

When we are friends with Jesus and we do what he wants, our hearts will be clean and beautiful. So we should listen to stories from the Bible, learn about Jesus and talk to him in prayer.
Today you have your photo. You also have construction paper and a heart. (note to parents: print the heart the right size to fit on the construction paper, together with the photo. Cut around the outline of the heart) Go over the words in the heart with a pencil or colour. Next glue your photo and the heart onto the construction paper. If you wish you may colour around your photo and heart. When ready, put it on the fridge or freezer, so that when you see it, you remember that you want to be good, like Jesus wants you to be.

Sign of the cross.

Dear Jesus, you show us how we are to love you and how to love others. Help us to do what you want and to have our hearts full of what is good and clean. Amen.

As part of today’s prayer, listen to, Jesus look inside my heart.

In today’s Gospel, we encounter the Pharisees and Scribes who scold Jesus’ disciples because according to them, they were not observing the religious traditions. The Pharisees are leaders. They study the laws of God and know them very well. They dress differently from the rest, so that they can be distinguished. Jesus did not agree with them, because they gave great importance to the observance of these rules, rather than to obeying God’s laws, which they knew by heart.

  • Jesus teaches us that the most important thing is what we have in our hearts
  • An empty plastic bottle
  • A jug of water
  • A sponge, preferably heart shaped
  • Washable markers
  • A basin with soapy water
  • Towel 

Parents: show the children the empty water bottle and ask:

What is this? (an empty bottle)
What is in it? (nothing / air)
What happens if I turn it upside down, over your head? (nothing)
If I press it into your face, what will you feel? (the air coming out)

(parents: fill the bottle with water)
Is the bottle still full of air? (no)
What happens if I turn it upside down on your head? (you will get wet!)

This is what Jesus is teaching us today! The way that a person looks on the outside, is not that important. What that person has in his heart is definitely much more important! The bottle did not change appearance when it was empty and when it was full of water. Yet, had it been poured on your head, its being empty or full would have made a difference! This is the same with us. If in our hearts, we have love, compassion, patience, and other good qualities, when we are with others, this is how we will behave. We will love others, help them, and share what we have. However, if in our hearts we have anger, hatred, jealousy, when we are with others, we cannot love them or show them mercy, we will not use loving words, neither will we share what we have. So this is why Jesus tells us that what we have in our hearts, is far more important than the way we look on the outside.

The Pharisees cared a lot about the way they looked. They dressed differently, they wanted the people to see them obeying all the religious rules. For example, one of the rules was that they could not work on Saturday. So even when they met someone who needed help, they would not help him, so as not to break that rule! This is what made Jesus angry. We too can make this mistake. Let us give an example. John was a good, intelligent boy. He obeyed his teachers, he studied and always did his work. One night, his friend Peter called him. Peter’s mother was in hospital, and Peter had not done his homework. He called John to show him how to do the homework. However, John did not want to, because he said, that the teacher would notice and write ‘copied’ on his work. It is true that we should not copy our homework from others, however this does not mean that we should not help others when they have difficulties in doing their work. For John, obeying the rules (or seemingly doing so!) was too important. It was more important than helping his friend.

Would we like to be like Jesus, and have our hearts full with the love or God, or rather like the Pharisees and obey all rules without caring for others?

Jesus knows that we do not always have good thoughts, that we do not always manage to make good choices, that our hearts are not always full of good things. This is why he gave us the sacrament of reconciliation, this is why he gave us parents, teachers and catechists, to teach us, this is why he wishes us to read the Bible and regularly go to mass. All these will help us to remove from our hearts, that which is wrong and fill them up with what is good.

Let us see the effect of bad choices on our hearts. You have the heart shaped sponge. Every time you make a bad choice, this will reflect in your heart. For example, you lied (use the washable markers to mark the sponge), you did not obey mummy (mark the heart again). Mark the hearts, for each example given: I fought with my brother, I said a rude word, I took a packet of sweets without permission….

What happened to the heart? Is it still as clean as it was in the beginning?

When we are sorry for our wrongdoings, we ask to be forgiven and go to confession. Now put the heart in the soapy water and wash it. The marker will come off! This is what happens to our heart, when we say that we are sorry, and go to confession. This is what Jesus wants: that our heart is always clean and pure.

Sign of the cross

Thank you Jesus for showing us how much better it is to have a clean and pure heart, rather than looking great from the outside. Help us to be more like you and let our hearts, only be filled with God’s love.

End the prayer, by listening to, Looking at my heart.

Coming soon.

How to use this space

God speaks to us in many ways, including through the Sunday Scripture readings. Here you will find useful background and activities to better understand the upcoming Sunday's Scripture readings, helping you to connect the Scripture to daily life in a meaningful way.