Sunday, September 1, 2024
Our Gospel selection for this Sunday returns to St. Mark’s Gospel after reading Chapter 6 of St. John’s Gospel for the past five weeks. We will continue reading Mark’s Gospel until we return to St. John’s Gospel on the last Sunday of this Liturgical year, the Feast of Christ the King, on November 24, 2024.
A few days after the start of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, the Associated Press had a story about Vivianne Robinson, an Olympics superfan who spent $10,000 to attend the games. It was her seventh Olympic games in 40 years. Vivianne, 66, worked two jobs, saved up, and maxed out her credit cards to afford the trip to Paris and tickets to almost 40 events. “It was hard to save up and it’s a big budget, but it’s a thousand times worth it,” she said. Robinson’s photos and short video accompanying the story show her wearing a shirt, vest, and USA bucket hat covered with Olympic rings, pins, and adornments. I, too, love sports and always look forward to watching the Olympics. Unlike Vivianne, I did not spend money on travel, colorful pins, and other Olympic merchandise. My budget for watching the Olympics was only about $7, a one-month subscription to the streaming service televising the games. We’re both sports fans but with different levels of devotion. This reminded me of the song Talkin’ New York where Bob Dylan sings about auditioning to play music: “The man there said he loved m’ sound, He was ravin’ about how he loved m’ sound, dollar a day’s worth.” Some people love Bob Dylan’s music, but not everyone. Then there are those Dylan sings about who only love him a “dollar a day’s worth.” It is not just sports and music; people have varying levels of devotion, loyalty, and commitment for many reasons in almost every facet and discipline of life.
In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees and scribes question Jesus, “Why do your disciples eat with unclean hands?” The Pharisees and scribes objected not to Jesus’ disciples’ cleanliness but to the fact that they broke long-standing Jewish traditions of washing up before meals. We learned from the Scriptures that some religious leaders do good but not for the right reasons. Jesus repeated Isaiah’s prophesy about hypocrites: “‘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.” (Mark 7:6b-8). The faith of some of the Pharisees and scribes was not authentic. Their hearts and deeds were not aligned with God’s teachings and commandments. How about us? Sure, we attend mass and participate in Sacraments, but are we also putting limits or boundaries on our faith? Are we living a life faithful to what we believe and profess or simply following traditions and habits? Are we wholly embracing our call to discipleship or just going with “a dollar a day’s worth” of Christianity? Join me today in reflecting on this question: How invested am I in my Christian faith?
Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord.