22 Sunday, Ordinary Time, Cycle B, September 3,2006

Scripture: Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8. Psalm 15:2-5. James 1:17-18,21b-22,27. Mark 7:1-8,14-15, 21-23.

My favorite book in the Torah is Deuteronomy. I like to compare it to the Gospel of John especially because of its emphasis on loving the Lord our God with all of one's heart, soul, and mind. In Deuteronomy the covenant of God is one of loving-kindness and fidelity (see Deuteronomy 6:1-9). In John the theme of love continues throughout the Book of Glory in chapters 13-17 (this love is called AGAPE). I remember having studied the text and vocabulary of Deuteronomy in a special class of Fr.William Moran, S.J., who drilled us with the parsing the texts and translating it on the spot. He himself was quite a scholar and linguist who came from the famous school of Semitics and linguistics at John Hopkins. Fr. Raymond E. Brown, S.S., and Fr. Joseph Fitzmyer, S.J. were also from John Hopkins. All probably studied under the great archaeologist William Fox Albright.

In our selection from Deuteronomy we are led to appreciate the covenant made with God and Israel through the ordinances, statutes, and commandments given in this great book from the seventh century B.C. The heart of the message for today seems to resonate in the other readings. We learn from Deuteronomy of the total commitment to God that is needed in the covenant made with Israel and us. We are to be faithful observers and doers of these commandments. We could learn more about them by slowly meditating on the longest Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 119 which contains eight different words for what we are to observe and understand as God's loving covenant.

The Epistle of James is similar to Deuteronomy in its emphasis on wisdom and on doing what God commands us to do. Jesus, likewise, tells us that he is not going to change one little jot or tittle of the Law or Torah, but to fulfill it. James sees the commandments as a gift coming down from the Father of lights urging us to show our love for the widow, the orphan, the poor. We are to worship God in holiness and wholesomeness.

Jesus is telling us that the important thing about God's laws and revelation is to have them inscribed on our hearts and to allow them to be released in doing good to others. Our human rules and human traditions should not bind us in a way that prevents the language and action of our hearts from doing the will of God. I have seen people freeze in their spiritual growth in being prisoners of ritual, insignificant laws, and human tradtions. It is only the Divine Law that can lead us in the paths of holiness and integrity. The Psalm response is a perfect prayer for the instructions and revelation God is giving us today in the Scripture: "He who does justice will live in the Presence of the Lord." Amen.