20210210 THE CAUSE OF DIVISION IN HUMANITY
10 February, 2021, Wednesday, 5th Week, Ordinary Time
irst reading |
Genesis 2:4-9,15-17 © |
The Lord God fashioned man out of dust
At the time when the Lord God made earth and heaven there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any wild plant yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was there any man to till the soil. However, a flood was rising from the earth and watering all the surface of the soil. The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. The Lord God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. The Lord God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it. Then the Lord God gave the man this admonition, ‘You may eat indeed of all the trees in the garden. Nevertheless of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 103(104):1-2,27-30 © |
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in light as in a robe!
Bless the Lord, my soul!
All of these look to you
to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up:
you open your hand, they have their fill.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
You take back your spirit, they die,
returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Gospel Acclamation | cf.2Tim1:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn17:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 7:14-23 © |
It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean
Jesus called the people to him and said, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’
When he had gone back into the house, away from the crowd, his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Do you not understand either? Can you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean, because it does not go into his heart but through his stomach and passes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he pronounced all foods clean.) And he went on, ‘It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’
THE CAUSE OF DIVISION IN HUMANITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ GEN 2:4b-9, 15-17; PS 104:1-2, 27-30; MARK 7:14-23]
Today the world is so much divided by religions, humanism and secularism. What is the cause of division in the world? Jesus in the gospel made it clear that division springs from the human heart. “It is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.” In saying this, Jesus traced the source of all evils to within the human person.
His teaching transcended the Jewish dietary laws that separate peoples from each other. In the Old Covenant, the Mosaic laws also covered the dietary laws as well, to protect the hygiene of the people. In fact, these dietary laws which could be good for hygiene in those days were also given a religious interpretation. For example, they were forbidden to eat pork so as not to be defiled by them. Besides prohibition of consumption of certain foods, they also had meticulous hygienic practices like the washing of hands and cups, pots, and bronze kettles. (Mk 7:1-5)
Such practices which were good for hygiene could also separate the Jewish people from the rest of humanity. Indeed, Mark in the editorial comment wrote, “Thus he pronounced all foods clean.” This, of course, had further implications not just for the Jews during the time of our Lord but also in the early Church when the New Covenant, being an inclusive covenant, admitted all peoples. St Paul wrote, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” (Gal 3:27-29) Truly, humanity is no longer separated by external rituals or regulations. This teaching of our Lord was reiterated by St Peter in his vision when God told him that all that He created were clean. And this was an indicator for Peter to visit Cornelius, a Gentile, so that he could receive the Good News. (cf Acts 10; 15:1-35)
Christ has truly brought our spirituality to a much higher level. Jesus warned us, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:20) It is not what we do that will make us defiled, especially when it concerns food and things. It is what comes out of our heart. Our heart unfortunately, is also very much related to our mind. The hardened heart and the ignorant mind go together. It is the mind that eventually hardens the heart. The Jewish leaders were so restricted by the ceremonial laws that were extrapolated from the basic Mosaic Laws. However, they were not sincere. They sought to find loopholes to circumvent the laws.
The Lord accused them of hypocrisy. He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’ Then he said to them, ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.'” (Mk 7:6-9) The disciples were not exempted because they were also rigid and unable to go beyond external observance of the laws. Hence, the Lord also reprimanded them, “Then do you also fail to understand?” (Mk 7:18) Again, this remark was taken seriously as a reprimand to the early Church as well because of the refusal of the Jewish Christians to admit the Gentile Christians to their community. They were insisting that they observed the Jewish laws, including the dietary laws, before they could be considered as Christians. St Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, of course resisted such an imposition. St Mark being the associate of St Paul in his first missionary journey affirmed this position.
Clearly, we must trace the source of division in the human heart and the human mind. This division is caused principally because man sought full autonomy from God. This is the message from the book of Genesis. We are told that God, after He created the earth, “shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being.” God gave His Spirit to man and he became a living being. Indeed, the moment God withdraws His Spirit, we will turn back to dust. “If he should take back his spirit to himself, and gather to himself his breath, all flesh would perish together, and all mortals return to dust.” (Job 34:14) Hence, man’s existence is dependent on God alone. Without Him, man turns to nothing.
The biggest folly and ignorance of man today is to think that he is the center of the world. The modern man thinks highly of himself, of his intellect, knowledge and power to do things. He does not need God and makes no reference to God. He does not believe in absolute moral laws but everything is subjected to his whims and fancies. He thinks he is the center, the whole world and everyone revolves around him. What is needed is a Copernican revolution instead! God made it clear that He is the center, not man. “Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. From the soil, Yahweh God caused to grow every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil is the symbol of God’s life and wisdom. Only God can give us life. Only God knows what is good and evil clearly. He gives us laws so that He can guide us to the fullness of life.
God placed moral boundaries for human beings so that man can be protected from his ignorance. “God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it. Then Yahweh God gave the man this command, ‘You are free to eat of all the trees in the garden. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat; for the day you eat of that, you are doomed to die.'” In other words, man does not have absolute freedom. He is given the freedom to choose but if he does not obey God’s moral laws which are part of creation and in harmony with natural laws, man will suffer a backlash. Morality is something placed in the hearts of man. We have a conscience that tells us from within whether something is right or wrong. We all know that there is objectivity to morality because of natural laws. Who placed them there? Even without studying morality, we know that something is not right. Morality as what the world wants us to believe is more than just situational or conditional. We are moral beings and God has planted truth in our hearts. Truth is not an invention or creation of man. But man uses his reason to rationalize and justify what he wants to do all in the name of relativism. If we search deep into our heart, moral laws are as clear as the Sun!
However, due to his arrogance, man wants to rely on himself instead on God. He wants to continue with selfish and self-centered acts. Without God, without absolute moral norms, he twists and turns all moral laws to suit himself. We think that morality is a matter of opinions and statistics simply because the majority believe it to be right. This is why when we use reason alone, we cannot agree on what is ethical or moral. The tragedy is that God has been removed from humanity in the Post-Enlightenment Period. Science and technology without God and without morality has led to the destruction of humanity. We can see this in climate warming, pollution, deforestation, wars and nuclear armament. Today, the world justifies every action, including terrorism, assassination of world leaders, chemical wars, abortion, and euthanasia, all in the name of justice and human rights. We are blinded by our intellect and arrogance. Fulfillment can only be found in God alone.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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