Devotion
Be Doers of the Word
Frances Taylor
Have you ever heard someone say – or thought to yourself – look at him/her, I can't believe the way he's/she's acting, he/she goes to church every Sunday? Perhaps it's someone at work, or at school, or in the neighborhood, or even in your family. What a hypocrite, you might say, and it's possible that that person doesn't have a clue – much like the Pharisees.
In Mark's gospel, the apostles are being condemned for eating without washing their hands. Now, we don't know the circumstances, but I would bet that many of us do the same thing even though we know that we should wash our hands before eating. However, if I want an ice cream on a hot day, I'm not going to ask the kid at the ice cream stand where to find a bathroom so that I can first wash my hands. But for observant Jews, to wash before eating was one of the many, many Mosaic laws. Jesus points out for them, that some laws are more important than others – like being honest, refraining from envy, not stealing, in other words, keeping the Ten Commandments. If we apply this message to today, we can ask ourselves if we are faithful to the Law of Love that Jesus has given us, or if we just give it lip service. Unless we refrain from lying, cheating, gossiping, stealing, greediness, passing judgment on others, and so many other traps the world holds out for us, are we any better than those we might criticize?
We come to listen to God's word, not so that we can pat ourselves on the back for keeping the commandment, but to learn how to better follow Jesus in our daily lives. It would be well for us to take to heart words of St. James, "Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves."
Prayer
Lord, give us the grace to follow your law of love with open minds and open hearts and keep us from looking at the failings of others, but working to heal our own instead. Amen.
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.