7 February, 2023 Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time | For India - Memorial : St Gonsalo Garcia, Martyr

 Gospel Mk 7: 1-13

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 went on to say,

"How well you have set aside the commandment of God

in order to uphold your tradition!

For Moses said,

Honor your father and your mother,

and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.

Yet you say,

'If someone says to father or mother,

"Any support you might have had from me is qorban"'

(meaning, dedicated to God),

you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.

You nullify the word of God

in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.

And you do many such things."

Reflection:  

The Pharisees multiplied religious laws and rituals to such an extent that it was impossible to know them all, much less observe them. So Jesus accuses them of putting petty regulations above the law of God, the law of love and compassion. St Gonsalo Garcia (1556-1597) a lay Third Order Friar is from India, born in  Agashi, a western coastal town in Vasai. In order to spread the Good News in Japan, God inspired Gonsalo Garcia to imitate Jesus and embrace the Cross. The blood of his martyrdom, along wiith St Paul Miki(priest)  and others,  sanctified the Japanese soil and established the Christian faith. Two lances piercing the body and passing through his heart, during the infliction of the torture, put an end to his sufferings and won for Garcia the martyr's crown. He is making clear that to be a follower of Jesus Christ does not require the observance of a multiplicity of Jewish rituals.  

For India : Memorial St Gonsalo Garcia, Martyr on Japanese soil

Gospel : Mt 10: 17-22 

Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.  For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Activity: 

It is not enough to read the Gospel, study it, or discuss it. We must put into practice.                                           Reaffirm your faith in God’s love for you today.

Read and Reflect: