20190212 SACRED TRADITION
AND SACRED TRADITIONS
12 FEBRUARY,
2019, Tuesday, 5th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Genesis 1:20-2:4 ©
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'Let us make man in our own image'
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God said, ‘Let the waters teem with living
creatures, and let birds fly above the earth within the vault of heaven.’ And
so it was. God created great sea-serpents and every kind of living creature
with which the waters teem, and every kind of winged creature. God saw that it
was good. God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters
of the seas; and let the birds multiply upon the earth.’ Evening came and
morning came: the fifth day.
God
said, ‘Let the earth produce every kind of living creature: cattle, reptiles,
and every kind of wild beast.’ And so it was. God made every kind of wild
beast, every kind of cattle, and every kind of land reptile. God saw that it
was good.
God
said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let
them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all
the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth.’
God created man in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.
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.’ God said,
‘See, I give you all the seed-bearing plants that are upon the whole earth, and
all the trees with seed-bearing fruit; this shall be your food. To all wild
beasts, all birds of heaven and all living reptiles on the earth I give all the
foliage of plants for food.’ And so it was. God saw all he had made, and indeed
it was very good. Evening came and morning came: the sixth day.
Thus
heaven and earth were completed with all their array. On the seventh day God
completed the work he had been doing. He rested on the seventh day after all
the work he had been doing. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on that day he had rested after all his work of creating.
Such
were the origins of heaven and earth when they were created.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 8:4-9 ©
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How great is your name,
O Lord our God, through all the earth!
When I see the heavens, the work of your
hands,
the moon and the stars which
you arranged,
what is man that you should keep him in
mind,
mortal man that you care for
him?
How great is your name,
O Lord our God, through all the earth!
Yet you have made him little less than a
god;
with glory and honour you
crowned him,
gave him power over the works of your
hand,
put all things under his feet.
How great is your name,
O Lord our God, through all the earth!
All of them, sheep and cattle,
yes, even the savage beasts,
birds of the air, and fish
that make their way through
the waters.
How great is your name,
O Lord our God, through all the earth!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps118:24
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me, Lord, to observe your law,
to keep it with my heart.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Ps118:36,29
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Bend my heart to your will, O Lord,
and teach me your law.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 7:1-13 ©
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You get round the commandment of God to
preserve your own tradition
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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. For
the Pharisees, and the Jews in general, follow the tradition of the elders and
never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow; and on returning from
the market place they never eat without first sprinkling themselves. There are
also many other observances which have been handed down to them concerning the
washing of cups and pots and bronze dishes. So these 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, ‘It was of you hypocrites that
Isaiah so rightly prophesied in this passage of scripture:
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.
You put aside the commandment of God to cling
to human traditions.’ And he said to them, ‘How ingeniously you get round the
commandment of God in order to preserve your own tradition! For Moses said: Do
your duty to your father and your mother, and, Anyone who curses father or
mother must be put to death. But you say, “If a man says to his father or
mother: Anything I have that I might have used to help you is Corban (that is,
dedicated to God), then he is forbidden from that moment to do anything for his
father or mother.” In this way you make God’s word null and void for the sake
of your tradition which you have handed down. And you do many other things like
this.’
SACRED TRADITION
AND SACRED TRADITIONS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ GEN 1:20-2:4; PS 8:4-9; MARK 7:1-13 ]
Protestants often
criticize Catholics for subscribing to man-made traditions instead of following
the Word of God. Often,
they would cite this scripture text from the gospel when Jesus berated the Pharisees
and the Jewish leaders for distorting the Word of God. Jesus said, “The
worship they offer me is worthless, the doctrines they teach are only human
regulations. You put aside the commandments of God to cling to human
traditions.” Is it true that Catholics have strayed from the Word of God
and substituted the true faith of the Church for human traditions? Have
we lost the purity of the gospel? To answer this question, we first must
make a few clarifications before we can ask ourselves whether we have been
faithful to the gospel of Christ. (cf Gal 1:6-9)
Firstly, let it be clear
that no institution in this world, be it religious, political, cultural or
economic, is without traditions.
Human beings need to manifest their values and beliefs in concrete ways,
through words, gestures and practices. Otherwise, they will remain
abstract. So it is not only Catholics who have Catholic Tradition, all
other Churches, mainstream, denominational, Pentecostal or evangelical churches
have their own liturgical traditions, governance structure, celebrations and
practices. Therefore, it would not be right to say that only Catholics
have man-made traditions whilst the other institutions do not have. Even
the country or nation has its traditions, like, standing at attention at
the singing of the National Anthem, reciting the Pledge, saluting, etc.
Secondly, we must hold
that the Bible is the Word of God.
Vatican II teaches, “This commission was faithfully fulfilled by the Apostles
who, by their oral preaching, by example, and by observances handed on what
they had received from the lips of Christ, from living with Him, and from what
He did, or what they had learned through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The
commission was fulfilled, too, by those Apostles and apostolic men who under
the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit committed the message of salvation to
writing.” (Dei Verbum 7) Although all the truths for salvation are
found in the scripture, not all are explicitly formulated. There
are many implicit truths contained in the bible that need to be
explicated. Indeed, the bible was originally an oral tradition
before it was put into writing. Furthermore, the Church, that is the
apostles and their successors, the bishops, had to determine which book was
considered to be inspired. Most of all, the bible in itself is dead
unless it is interpreted by the Church, which is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
That is why St John at the end of his gospel wrote, “Now Jesus did many other
signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this
book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is
the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life
in his name.” (Jn 20:30f)
Nevertheless, what is special about the Bible is that it is the Written
Word of God and therefore because it is written, it has its benefit of
objectivity when we need to establish a basis for our interpretation.
Thirdly, flowing from
what we said, we must also hold that the Word of God, that is the gospel, the
Good News about the person Jesus the Christ, is not contained in the written
Word of God alone. It
is primarily rooted in the Apostolic Tradition. The Word of God was
given flesh through the teaching of the apostles over and above their
writings. “And so the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special
way in the inspired books, was to be preserved by an unending succession of
preachers until the end of time. Therefore the Apostles, handing on what they
themselves had received, warn the faithful to hold fast to the traditions which
they have learned either by word of mouth or by letter (see 2 Thess. 2:15), and to fight in defense of the
faith handed on once and for all. (see Jude 1:3)” (Dei Verbum 8)
So what is Sacred
Tradition? It includes everything that makes possible for us to encounter
Jesus as a person, through the use of words and actions. “Now what was handed on by the
Apostles includes everything which contributes toward the holiness of life and
increase in faith of the peoples of God; and so the Church, in her teaching,
life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that she
herself is, all that she believes.” We do not come to experience Jesus
simply using our minds but our hearts and indeed, the entire body for the Lord
commands us to love Him, with all our heart, mind and strength. (cf Dt 6:5) Jesus is more than just the written
Word of God. The latter is only a means, even if undoubtedly it occupies
a special position in terms of reverence.
Hence, the Constitution
on Divine Revelation concludes, “there exists a close connection and
communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the
same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the
same end. For Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned
to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred tradition
takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the
Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led
by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this
word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known.
Consequently, it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her
certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore both sacred tradition
and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of
loyalty and reverence.” (Dei Verbum 9)
Fourthly, we must make a
clear distinction between Sacred Tradition and sacred traditions. Sacred
Tradition refers to the Word of God, written and oral that presents to us the
gospel of our Lord. Sacred
Tradition, therefore, encompasses those fundamental doctrines about Christ, the
Church and our salvation. This is handed on through the written word of
God, the preaching and interpretation of the Apostolic Fathers, and by the
Church’s Magisterium, the college of Bishops. What are
some of these teachings in Sacred Tradition that cannot be changed? For
example, in the first reading from Genesis, the teaching on the dignity of man,
the institution of marriage between a man and a woman, the goodness of creation
and the Sabbath law. Over and above the written Word of God, the Church
also recognizes other doctrines explicated over time that are traced to the
apostolic tradition as part of Sacred Tradition, for example, the doctrine of
the Holy Trinity, Original Sin, the Eucharist, the Sacraments, the dogmas of
our Lady, the church, the ordained priesthood and the Petrine ministry.
In other words, infallible doctrines belong to the Sacred Tradition.
Beyond these teachings
pertaining to the Sacred Tradition found in scriptures directly or indirectly
through the handing of the Apostolic Tradition, the other traditions that are
not central to the gospel, such traditions are man-made and can be changed. Even the Sabbath Law, although must
be observed, can be done in different ways according to the rules of the
Church. Hence, the Church, over and above the Sunday obligations, can
also rule that Catholics must also attend mass on special solemnities.
However, such rules can be changed and applied differently at different
times. This is true even with respect to the celibacy of the priesthood
in the Roman Catholic Tradition. If that were so, other aspects of
traditions, such as liturgical expressions, gestures, church laws, customs and
devotional practices, all these are not permanently cast in stone. These
customs and practices must adapt to the changing times and needs without
contradicting Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
So has the Catholic
Church fallen into hypocrisy as condemned by Jesus in the gospel? It all depends on whether we can
establish that our doctrines are in line with sacred scriptures and the
apostolic tradition, the faith that has been handed over to the Church consistently
over the centuries and believed by both the magisterium and the
faithful. If our doctrines can be shown that it is not against the
gospel teaching about Christ, the Church and our salvation, then it belongs to
the Sacred Tradition, the Gospel. (cf Dei Verbum 10)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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