"Be doers of the word and not hearers only."

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

The readings for this Sunday are all about the things that we do. In the first reading, Moses advises the Israelite people to follow the commandments, telling them that, if they do, they will show the world that they are wise in following the laws of their God. The Psalm Response, from Psalm 15, speaks similarly, saying, "The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord." And the second reading, from the Letter of James, encourages the readers of the letter to "Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves."

All of this leads up to the Gospel reading, where Jesus gets frustrated with the Pharisees. While the Pharisees pride themselves on following the Law exactly, they also have many other traditions and expectations that have nothing to do with the Law but that they hold up as just as important. And so, when they take offense at Jesus and his disciples for not following their traditions, Jesus tells them they hold up their traditions as more important that the Laws of God, saying: "You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition."

Often the Catholic Church is accused of having such a pharisaical approach to the life of faith. However, the Church always seeks to ensure that what it asks of its members is always in line with both the revealed Word of God in Scripture as well as the Holy Tradition of the Church that goes back to its very apostolic foundations. In the end, all that we seek to say and do as a Catholic Christian people is to be doers of the word! If all we do is hear and not act then we run the risk of, like James warns, deluding ourselves into thinking we're doing fine. However, if all we do is act and have no faith and our hearts are not changed by it, then we are also deluding ourselves.

Let us pray this week that we may both hear the Word of God and act on it! May our faith be what enlivens us and gives us what we need to act! And may the actions we do spur our hearts forward to deepen our faith and love for God and for God's people!

Want to read the readings for this Sunday? Click here to find them.