(Lk 15:20)
A Parable Written Just For Us
September 2, 2012, 22nd
Sunday in Ordinary Time
1st reading from Dt. - the laws of Moses
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia,
alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
Glory to you, Lord.
Glory to you, Lord.
The traditions of the Pharisees
When the Pharisees with
some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed
that some of his disciples ate their meals without first purifying their hands.
For the Pharisees and Jews in general follow the tradition of the elders and
never eat without first washing their arms as far as the elbows. And on
returning from the market place they never eat without first sprinkling
themselves. There are also many other observances which have been handed down
to them concerning the proper way to wash cups, pots,
copper bowls, and beds.
So the Pharisees and
scribes questioned Jesus, “How come your disciples don’t follow the tradition
of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”Jesus replied, “You bunch
of hypocrites! Isaiah the prophet described you very well when he wrote, `These
people honor me with their lips, but their
hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human
precepts.’[1] You disregard God’s commandment but cling to
human tradition.”
Then Jesus summoned the crowd again
and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. It’s not what comes from without that makes a person unclean but what
comes from within. For from within, from people’s hearts, come evil thoughts,
impurity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy,
blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within a person and make
him unclean.”
The
Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord
Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
Back either to work or to school
Tomorrow, Labor Day, is a very
definite turning point.
Summer vacation is over. Tomorrow all go back either to work or to school. Before
we know it, our thoughts will turn to Thanksgiving and then to Christmas. What
used to be the new year of 2012 is rolling on and growing old, and so are we.
The `lawfulness’
of Judaism
The three great monotheistic religions are Judaism, Christianity
and Islam. Judaism and Islam are much closer to each other than they are to
Christianity. Both affirm a strong connection between obedience to religious
laws and God feeling good about us. Christianity on the other hand (when true
to its self) feels uncomfortable with such a strong connection .Both Judaism
and Islam affirm also a strong connection between our disobedience to religious
laws and God feeling displeasure with us. Again, Christianity (when true to its
self) feels uncomfortable with such a strong connection.
In Jesus’ days the
rabbis, seeking to ritualize God's presence in the smallest and most
insignificant details of human life, imposed an unbearable maze of laws, rules
and regulations upon the people. Today’s gospel alludes to that burdensome
maze. The people had to ritually wash their
hands before eating. They had to carefully cleanse anything brought in from the
market. They had to meticulously observe the proper way to wash cups, pots, copper bowls, and beds.
(Mk. 7: 3-4) And
then there were countless dos and don’ts concerning the observance of the
Sabbath, which frequently got Jesus and his disciples in trouble. (Mt. 12:1-14;
Lk. 13: 10-17) We see that same spirit of meticulous
religious observance of the Jew of old in the Hasidic Jew of today.
One writer speaks of the `lawfulness’ of
Judaism of old; by that he means that Judaism of old was `full-of-laws.’ When the Jew of old scrupulously observed that burdensome maze of laws, God Yahweh
felt very good about him. When, however, he
didn’t scrupulously observe that maze, God Yahweh felt very displeased with him.
The `lawfulness’
of Islamism
That
same connection (between man’s obedience or disobedience to
religious laws and God feeling very good or very displeased) is present also in Islam. Six
centuries after Christ, Mohammed gave Muslims 5 major laws (called `The Five
Pillars of Islam’) to be religiously observed by the faithful Muslim: (1) The
law of Shahada: a proclamation of
personal faith that there is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet. (2)
The law of Salat: ritual prayer five
times daily. (3) The law of Zakat: a
fixed percentage for almsgiving. (4) The law of Ramadan: the great fast. (5) The law of the Hajj: the once-in-a-life-time pilgrimage to Mecca.
The `lawlessness’
of Christianity
On the one hand there is the `lawfulness’ of Judaism and Islamism.
On the other hand there is the `lawlessness’ of Christianity. When true to itself,
Christianity is at heart `lawless.’ That is to say, it negates a strong connection
between man’s obedience or disobedience to religious laws and God feeling good or
displeased with him. When true to itself, Christianity is `antinomian.’
It is an antinomian spirit (an uncomfortable feeling about
religious laws) that St. Paul is expressing when he writes: “Christ has freed
us from the curse of the Law {with its 613 major laws and countless rules
and regulations}.” (Gal. 3: 13) Paul expresses the same
discomfort when he writes: "Christ has come to set us free from
circumcision and the Law. So don't ever take up that heavy burden again." (Gal.15:
1) The apostle repeats his antinomian message when he writes: “A man is put
right with God not by doing the works of the Law but only by faith.” (Rom. 3:
28)
Jesus’ antinomian
parables
Moses comes with 613 major religious laws for Jews to observe, and
observing them makes God Yahweh feel good about Jews. Mohammed comes with 5 great pillars for Muslims to observe, and observing them makes God Allah feel
good about Muslims. Jesus, on the other hand, is an antinomian; He comes with
no laws for us to observe in order to make God feel good about us. The two
greatest of all Jesus parables are the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:
25-37) and the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15: 11-32). The latter is imbued
with an antinomian spirit. A lawless lad – a prodigal son - grabs his
inheritance and takes off to a foreign land where he squanders his money on
loose living. Then when broke and broken, he returns home and is received into
the open arms of a father full of forgiveness.
Just before the story of the Prodigal Son, Jesus tells another antinomian
parable. It’s about a good shepherd who
leaves ninety-nine obedient sheep behind and goes in search of the one sheep that’s
gone astray. (Lk. 15: 4-7)
Judaism with its 613 laws and Islamism with its 5 great pillars are
strong on obedience to religious laws; both do not warm up to parables that have
God Yahweh or God Allah forgiving prodigal sons or straying sheep.[2] Both
rejoice in obedient sons and sheep. Christianity, on the other hand, rejoices
in prodigal sons who return home, and straying sheep who are found by the
shepherd and carried home on his shoulders.
Conclusion
Written
just for us
If we have not made any great big mistake in our lives which we
deeply regret and can’t undo, if we have been faithful and have done everything
right in our lives, if we have carefully fulfilled the 315 laws or the 5 great
pillars – we are, indeed, rare birds! If, however, we have made some great big
mistake in our lives, if we have done something we deeply regret but can’t
undo, if we have not meticulously fulfilled the 315 laws or the 5 the great pillars
– we can take heart: Jesus’ magnificent antinomian parables about prodigal sons
who return home or lost sheep who are found were written just for us.
