9 January 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Mark 7:8
The Pharisees notice that some of Jesus' disciples eat with unwashed hands, against “the tradition of the elders”. Jesus answers with Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” He does not despise tradition; the Church lives by Holy Tradition. He rejects the human customs that take the place of God's commandment and leave the heart untouched. The washing that matters is of the heart.
Paul faces a related question: if Israel was unfaithful, has God failed? “By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true.” Our unfaithfulness does not cancel God's faithfulness. A few days after Denho, the feast of the Lord's baptism, we remember the washing God gave us in Baptism: not of hands but of hearts. Let our customs, fasts and devotions serve the love of God, not replace it.
Theme: “Let God be proved true.”
God's faithfulness, God's commandment, and the washing of the heart.
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22–23
“What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?” Romans 3:3
Apply: Thank God for one sign of his faithfulness.
“The Lord said: Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote;” Isaiah 29:13
“You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Mark 7:8
Apply: Renew one devotion so that it comes from the heart.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
“let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22
Apply: Pray Psalm 51 slowly tonight.
God is faithful even when we are not.
Let our traditions be the clothing of a loving heart.
Take-home resolution: Go to Qurbono tomorrow with a renewed heart.
Dear friends, the Pharisees and scribes see Jesus' disciples eating with unwashed hands, against the tradition of the elders. They complain. Jesus answers with Isaiah: this people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me (Mark 7:6).
Jesus is not against tradition. Our Church lives by Holy Tradition, received from the Apostles. He is against human customs that replace God's commandment: you abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition (Mark 7:8).
St Paul asks: if some were unfaithful, will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be proved true (Romans 3:3–4). God's faithfulness is stronger than our failures.
A few days ago we celebrated Denho, the Baptism of the Lord. In our Baptism God washed not our hands but our hearts. Let us check our customs and devotions: do they come from the heart? Do they lead us to love God and neighbour? Then they are holy. Amen.
Children, Jesus said God cares most about a clean heart. Washing hands is good, but a kind and loving heart is even better!
Faithful God, even when we are unfaithful, you remain true. Wash our hearts as you washed us in Baptism, and let all our customs and devotions spring from love for you. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Both readings ask what it means to belong to God. Paul insists that God stays faithful to Israel even when people fail, for his word does not depend on us. In Mark, Jesus warns that outward observance means little when the heart is far away. God's faithfulness and our sincerity are the two sides of today's lesson, and both are for Christians to hear first.
Setting.
Paul has just said that true circumcision is a matter of the heart (2:28–29). An objection follows at once: then what is the use of being a Jew? He answers in the manner of a teacher arguing with an imagined questioner, a common style of the ancient schools. Quick questions and short answers follow. The argument is dense here, and Paul takes it up fully in chapters 9–11.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.” (3:2)
After the sharp words of chapter 2, Paul does not say “none”. He says “much”. He will later list what belongs to Israel (9:4–5).
“What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?” (3:3)
Note the word “some”. The heart of the verse is about God: what he has promised, he does not take back. Paul later says it plainly: “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (11:29).
“And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”?” (3:8)
Some people twisted Paul's teaching on grace into this, and he rejects it. Grace is never a licence for sin.
How the Church reads it.
The Council, following Paul, teaches that God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their fathers, and that he does not repent of the gifts he makes or the calls he issues (Nostra Aetate 4). The Catechism says that the Old Covenant has never been revoked (CCC 121) and gives Romans 9:4–5 when it speaks of the Jewish people (CCC 839). Verse 8 has also become a rule of Christian morals: one may never do evil so that good may result from it (CCC 1756, 1789).
Setting.
Jesus has been healing crowds around Gennesaret (6:53–56). Teachers come from Jerusalem and see some of his disciples eating without the ritual washing of hands. This was about religious purity, not hygiene. Many scholars think that the Pharisees wished to bring the holiness that the Law asked of priests (Exodus 30:17–21) into ordinary homes and meals. They were devout people who took God seriously, which is why the debate matters.
Verses 3–4 are an aside by Mark, who seems to be writing for readers who do not know these customs. “All the Jews” is his own summary; many scholars think that practice varied.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
““Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”” (7:5)
The question is about how a disciple should live. It is a real question among people who care about the Law.
“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;” (7:6)
Jesus quotes Israel's own prophet, who said this to his own people. The word is for every worshipper. Anyone can say all the right prayers with a distant heart.
“You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”” (7:8)
The contrast is between God's command and what people have added. In the next verses, beyond today's reading, Jesus gives an example: a custom used to avoid caring for one's parents (7:9–13).
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism distinguishes the Apostolic Tradition, which comes from the Lord, from the many theological, disciplinary, liturgical and devotional traditions that grow in local Churches and may be changed under the guidance of the Magisterium (CCC 83). It also teaches that Jesus takes us to the heart, from which comes what truly defiles (CCC 582). Mark's scene is about the heart, not a judgment on Jewish piety; Jesus was himself a faithful Jew (CCC 577–582).
If Jesus criticises tradition, why do we keep so many traditions?
Jesus does not reject tradition as such. He rejects any human custom that takes the place of God's command. Apostolic Tradition hands on the faith itself (CCC 81–83). Our liturgical customs are precious when they lead the heart to God, and they turn empty when only the lips take part.