homily notes: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the most common questions I get as a priest is this: "Father, is it a sin to ______?"

It's a question that I get from people of all ages, and it's an honest question. People want to know if they are doing what God wants them to do.

But it's also a hard question to answer. Contrary to what people might think, the Church doesn't have a big list somewhere of every possible sin, so I could look it up and tell you, "Yes, that's a sin" or "No, don't worry about it."

We should, however, understand exactly what sin is when we ask that kind of question. Sin is not just a matter of breaking an arbitrary rule that God put in place because He likes rules. Sin is a rejection of God, a rejection of Love itself.
We're not supposed to follow the rules just because they are the rules, but because they are in accord with the way of Love.

That's the lesson we find in today's Gospel.

The Pharisees we encounter in this story and all through the Gospels were a group that wanted to renew the religion of the Jews of Jesus' time. Not only did they want everyone to strictly follow the Law of Moses, but they also expected everyone to obey certain rules that originally only applied to priests who were serving in the Temple - this is what the Gospel is talking about when it mentions washing their hands as well as cups, jugs, and beds.
These are rules that the Pharisees held as a tradition - and they thought that the only way to be a truly religious Jew was to follow these rules, even though they weren't originally intended to apply to everyone.

And so the Pharisees attach Jesus because some of his disciples don't follow their tradition of ritually cleaning their hands.

Jesus responds by calling his accusers hypocrites. They are presenting themselves as people who are following God's law perfectly, doing everything right; but Jesus says that, in reality, they are disregarding His law.

They are focused on externals rather than the inner reality.

This reading is sometimes used by non-Catholic traditions to accuse the Catholic Church - we do a lot of things that are based on "tradition," but what Jesus is condemning here is human tradition, tradition that has come to replace the true law of God - and, above all, the law of God is about love.

Everything we do, every rule we follow, every commandment that God has given us, is about loving Him and loving our neighbor. All of our tradition, all of our "rules" lead us to that.

That's why sin is not just a matter of breaking a rule like going over the speed limit or jaywalking. Sin is a choice against the love that God has in mind for us.

When we do have rules - like the Ten Commandments or the laws of the Church - they are there so that we make the right decisions, decisions that lead us to Love.