Daily Scripture Reflection & Prayer: February 11, 2025

Date: Tuesday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture Text: Mark 7:1-13

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace, they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.) So, the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?"

He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy 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 as doctrines human precepts.

You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." He went on to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and Whoever curses father or mother shall die. Yet you say, 'If someone says to father or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is qorban"' (meaning, dedicated to God),you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things."

Breaking the text open – background and summary:

The gospel reading for today recounts Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees concerning God’s Law and the human traditions that have arise around them. Jesus tells his critics that God’s law is superior to human law, yet humans tend to favor their traditions over the LORD’s law.

Meditating on the text with personal questions:

The LORD commands two things of me: love the LORD with my whole being and love one another. Do I put more stead in what I think is valuable than what the LORD has established?

Praying:

LORD, Almighty Father, Beloved Son, Most Holy Spirit, always and everywhere You are, You have been, and You will be. We lift our voices in praise of You and with thanksgiving because we know that we are only because You are. You are the source of our being and only You have the Words of everlasting life. Fill us with fire of your transformative love and allow it to form us, to inform our minds, to conform our wills, to transform our very souls so that we might become the ones You created us to be. Grant that we may seize every opportunity to love You well by following the Law of Love You have given to us. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.