Tuesday of Week 5 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Genesis 1:20-2:4 | Psalm 8:4-9 | Mark 7:1-13
God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth.’ (Genesis 1:28)
We can see the results of all that “conquering” and “mastery” today. Yes, we have technological riches and possessions in abundance, but we also have open mines that scar the earth, pollution galore, a general lack of reverence towards God, and a distinct lack of love for each other.
It’s that last bit that made human regulations necessary, a tacit admission that we all can’t voluntarily live in harmony and mutual understanding, so we draw up laws as a poor substitute, to keep us all functioning in a semblance of “one body, one spirit”.
Thus Jesus reminded the Pharisees:
This people honours me only with lip-service,
while their hearts are far from me.
The worship they offer me is worthless,
the doctrines they teach are only human regulations. (Mark 7:6-7)
Human laws aren’t necessarily bad, though some (like those legalizing abortion) are particularly distressing. We just need to remember that love of God and neighbour should not be limited to what our local bishop considers “minimum Catholic activity”. We should be willing, indeed glad, to stretch ourselves towards our heavenly Father and our brothers and sisters, to go beyond the bare minimum, to love without counting every penny or missed secular opportunity.
We should conquer our reluctance to be ever closer to our Creator, and master our impulse to maximize our earthly pleasures at His expense.
Amen.