Reflection for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cleansing one's hands will not suffice...

First we hear Moses remind us to “hear the commandments, that you may live.”

Then we are reminded to “be doers of the word, not hearers only.”

In the Gospel Jesus rebukes the Pharisees who question the disciples for not washing their hands.  Jesus challenges them: “You disregard God’s commandments but cling to human tradition.”

Thus we see a common thread: Obey the commandments.  Keep God  first, front and center, and all other things fall into place.  Let your actions be louder than your words.  Let your life lead.  A life centered on God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

As a hospital chaplain, this analogy comes to me.  In the hospital there is great concern about infection control, so much so that all who enter and exit a patient room are instructed to wash their hands.  The concern is to keep the outside clean so that the inside does not catch infection.

I often reflect on how cleansing one’s hands will not suffice if one wants to connect with the whole person and one goes into the room full of haughty and righteous thoughts (the inside).  When Jesus defends his disciples for not washing their hands, he could have been teaching that their inside is far more important than their outside for effective ministry.

Sister Bernadette Bezner, CDP