There is a famous song from Fiddler on the Roof with a one word title: tradition! Traditions play a part in our life, our relationships and our family. I once heard this story of a mother, a talented cook, who shared her cooking expertise with her grown daughter. She showed her the recipe for a perfect baked ham, the secret being to carefully slice about 1 inch from each end of the ham. The daughter asked why? The response from mom: that’s how my momma taught me! When grandma came for a visit, the granddaughter related the cooking lesson so she naturally asked why did you teach mom to slice the ends of the ham? Well, she replied, that is how my mom taught me. Totally frustrated, she asked more forcefully, but why does cutting the ham make such a difference. Grandma replied it doesn’t make a difference my mom had to slice the ends of the ham so it would fit in her pan! Ah, tradition!
Tradition literally means passed on, handed down. Many things we do in our personal lives, among our families are based in traditions. We even have traditions regarding our spiritual life.
As people of faith, do we cling to mere human traditions or do we rely on the Sacred Tradition entrusted to the Church?
After a six week sojourn in the Gospel of John we return to St. Mark's Gospel today. We hear the Pharisee’s and the scribes objecting to the disciples not closely following the traditional washing ritual. This is not just simply washing up or doing the dishes, this is a purification rite that the religious leaders of the day have made more complicated. The Pharisee’s and scribes were more interested in the outward appearance, the showiness of the ritual and paid little attention to the motivation of the heart. They were misusing the traditions of God and being hypocrites by imposing their rules and regulations.
Jesus, of course, knows what is on the inside; he knows the hearts of all. Jesus never criticized the law or the rituals; he criticized the man made interference with God’s law and the hypocrisy of the ritual. After all, if the inside, which Jesus tells us can produce such an impressive list of sins, is not clean; if the heart cares little about a relationship with Him, then all the outward appearances; all the detail to tradition means little.
Is this relevant to us today? Do we belong to a church that has rituals and traditions? Are we following God’s law or those of man? Difficult questions that beg careful answers! First, we know that Jesus came to earth and established a church. The church indeed needs rules and regulations. He established a church on the first Pope, Peter and has allowed for successors all the way to Pope Francis. And we have a teaching authority, called the Magisterium, which is the Pope and all the Bishops who cooperate with him in guiding the church under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The Bishops are the successors to the original Apostles. Our current Bishop is Archbishop Gregory Aymond.
But what does this have to do with us? We are obligated to follow the teaching authority of the church but we are also obligated to develop an interior relationship with God. God wants our hearts. He wants a personal relationship with each of us. He wants us to be the same on the inside as we appear to be on the outside. He wants us to look and act the same inside Church and outside in the parking lot. He wants us to interiorly know why we make the sign of the cross, genuflect, stand, kneel and sit. If someone asks you why do you Catholics do that; can we answer them or do we simply say, I’ve always done it that way, my mom told me to or everyone else does that way too. Maybe we can ask ourselves; why do we do it. Is it mere tradition or does it flow naturally from a sincere interior and a clean heart that wants to love, obey and worship God.
We also are called to live out our faith by our response to each other. Do we live out from our interior the call to serve our brother and sister in need? St. James puts it best in our 2nd reading today: be doers of the word not just hearers of the word. Are we doers?
In just a little while we will approach the Eucharist and proclaim amen when we hear “Body of Christ”, “Blood of Christ”. Do we say amen because we always say amen or do we believe with a clean heart? Our amen is our yes; our yes to Jesus and our yes to the Sacred Traditions of Holy Mother Church. And Sacred Tradition is everything handed on from Jesus to Hi Apostles, to those who followed, through every generation. In the week ahead can we prayer with this Scripture three times and ask ourselves, do I follow mere tradition or do I understand Sacred Tradition? Do I seek to do more and learn more so I can develop that personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Is my inside just as clean and pure as my outside appearance. Is my nice shiny holy appearance real; does it come from a clean heart?
Cut the ends off that perfect ham if you must, just remember that is a tradition of man. Love and follow Jesus Christ on the inside and the outside; follow the Sacred Tradition of His Church!
Tradition! Tradition!!
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