Daily Word Of God
Mark 7:1-2, 5-8
The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus, and they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them.
So the Pharisees and scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands?’ He answered, ‘How rightly Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites in the passage of scripture: This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. Their reverence of me is worthless; the lessons they teach are nothing but human commandments. You put aside the commandment of God to observe human traditions.
Today's Pointers on God's Word
As you read the passage what words, phases or meanings caught your attention?
- In today’s Gospel, Jesus reprimands the Pharisees and scribes for paying too much attention in following external rituals and forgetting that the interior cleansing of one’s heart is far more worthy and important to God.
- We need to avoid being hypocritical in the way we live our faith. Hypocrisy is a form of deception in giving false impression to others that we honour God, but in reality we are merely paying “lip-service.”
- In the daily living of our faith, it is good to ponder on this question, “Am I self-righteous, judgmental and critical about others while ignoring my own faults, failures and sinfulness?”