“Do what the word tells you”
22nd Sunday B
Sacred Heart Church, Norwood
1st September 2024
My friends,
Exam results are in the air these days. Understandably there’s great concern about getting one’s course options. We focus so much on it because so much seems to rest on it for the future. A similar dynamic is going on in Britain as they analyse their GCSE results. One of the observations made in their context was in relation to RE – religious education. Specifically, a call to give greater emphasis to religious education because of the importance of moral and spiritual values in shaping society.
The Prime Minister speaks of Britain as a broken society in the light of the recent riots they’ve experienced. One might reasonably ask if the same might be said of Ireland – in the light of some of our recent experience by way of civil disturbance, the levels of personal crime, not to speak of the undercurrent of widespread consumption of illegal drugs.
A broken society is made up of too many people whose lives are broken for one reason or another. The reality is that the demands of living are too much for some. On the other hand, sadly, there are those who exploit that vulnerability.
These thoughts are prompted by our Readings for to-day which in different ways focus on the divine law – the law given by God with the wish and desire that it be written in/on our hearts. The reading from Deuteronomy speaks directly of the commandments “keep them, observe them and they will demonstrate to the peoples your wisdom and understanding”.
The Letter of James reinforces the invitation “Accept and submit to the word which has been planted in you and can save your souls. But you must do what the word tells you and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves”.
My friends, our being here together in prayer is an expression of our desire to do just that – to hear the Word attentively, take it to heart and allow it to inspire and direct us every day.
Put that desire and wish beside Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees in the Gospel reading when he quotes the stinging line from Isaiah
“The people honour me with only lip service
While their hearts are far from me
The worship they offer is worthless,
the doctrines they teach are only human regulations”.
We all know that there is something of the hypocrite in all of us. We profess one thing and do something different. It’s a criticism so often levelled at the Church these days and rightly in many instances. And when we can accept it, we are more humble and sincere. On the positive side so many good people try to hear the Word of God and live by it.
Returning to the exam results – there is a real risk for individual young people and society if they leave our excellent education system without a solid spiritual and moral compass that equips them with the wisdom and understanding for right living.
The reality is that there is much hypocrisy in our education system whereby school policies are full of eloquent language about wellbeing and being holistic in our formation, yet little is realised in practice. The same is true for many of our families – in abandoning the practice of prayer – God and his word is abandoned too.
