Aug 29th, 2021 Motjari meeting Fr. Foeckler’s lecture note

[정하상성당]

+Abe Cor Mariae 

Aug 29, 2021

 

Today we go back to the ordinary rhythm of the reading

 

St. James the Lesser (Fr. Foeckler’s parish is also under his name). He is also called St. James the Just. He is a cousin of Jesus, became the bishop of Jerusalem, formed a group called the Catholic Letters. While St. Paul wrote letters specific group of people like Romans, Corinthians, etc, St. James’ group’s letter was written to general people. Catholic in Greek means “universal”. Catholic is for all the people. 

 

Religion: Pure and undefiled

1. Liturgical acts of worship
2. Charity towards needy

3. Remaining unstained by the world= Holy and Pure

 

 

Today’s Reading II

Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27

Dearest brothers and sisters:
All good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. 
He willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.

Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their affliction
and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

 

Balance

Faith + Works: main point of his letter. We have to worship the God and love our neighbors.

Liturgical worship + charitable works

 

Gospel

Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

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 summoned the crowd again and said to them,
“Hear me, all of you, and understand. 
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.

“From within people, from their hearts,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.”

 

The Pharisees made human tradition as a law. They have all kinds of ablutions. They interpreted the law, and made another laws. They teach human principles, but that is not what came from God. Those ablutions are human precepts. The Pharisees keep human precepts, but not God’s. Corbans belong to the temple to be sacred. The Pharisees were ignoring the big Ts, tradition as God’s teaching to keep small ts, human precepts.

 

Religion is pure and undefiled. Religion means;

 

1. Liturgical acts of worship. People can be spiritual without being religious.

2. Charity towards needy. Help them first, then the blessing you gave have meaning.

3. Remaining unstained by the world =Holy and pure

 

 

1. Liturgical acts of worship. People can be spiritual without being religious.

 

Today people say, I’m spiritual but I’m not religious.: Faith without work is dead faith.

If you don’t practice religion, or don’t pray formally, you can get misplaced ideas about church.

 

Big T, traditions came from God, and Apostles

 Bitter herbs, roasted lamb, and unleavened bread were only tradition written in the Bible, but now Jesus made 4 cups of wine in the Passover meal.

 

Small t, traditions came from humans and pharisees.

 

2. Charity towards needy. Help them first, then the blessing you gave have meaning.

 

St. John, if we say we love God who we can’t see, what good is loving god if we don’t help our neighbor who we can see.

 

St. Mary’s food bank and St. Vincent de Paul

 

 

3. Remaining unstained by the world =Holy and pure

 

Jesus said, “From within people, from their hearts,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.”

 

Foolishness: doing things that you are not supposed to do, without thinking.

 

Main reason that we have religion.

 

“Dearest brothers and sisters:

All good giving and every perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of lights,

with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. “

 

All good things come from God. God gives good things to us.

St. Paul says, what do you have that you have not received?

Mass->Eucharist->Thanksgiving

 

Thanksgiving to God is the main reason for religion.

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