ENGLISH 
ESPAÑOL 
Homily Of The 22Nd Sunday In Ordinary Time
I would like to make a few comments about our Gospel for today. First of all let me point out that for the Jews of that time the term Law meant the 10 commandments and the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament). These were fundamental and deemed sufficient. However later legal experts, called Scribes, wanted more detailed rules. Among these were detailed rules for the washing of hands. As is clear this washing was not for hygiene. The water for washing was kept in large jars. The washing itself was very detailed and the hands were held in several directions. The importance attached to this ritual can be seen in a story about a Rabbi who was imprisoned. He was given water for drinking but used it instead to wash his hands.
So, we see what Jesus was up against in today’s story, it was none other than the tradition of the elders. However, another aspect of the story shows a different conflict.When the scribes attack Jesus because of what the disciples do, he defends them. Jesus’s love for his disciples is God’s love so it is unconditional. He opposes the Scribes because they are hypocrites. This word literally means “play acting.” While washing their hands to keep the Law they are hating others in their hearts. Later in the history of the Jews we read about the Maccabees and their willingness to die rather than disobey the Law and eat pork.
The dispute we have just been discussing was about unclean hands, but later this would morph in to disputes about what to eat. And as we read in St. Paul’s epistles, he had to confront this problem and solve it a way that satisfied older hardliners and newly made converts.
Jesus’s proclamation that nothing from the outside could make one unclean was revolutionary in a culture that was obsessed with food laws.
By Fr Jerry Cusumano, SJ
