How the Ten Commandments Set Us Free

Gospel Reflection on the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Christ Came to Set us Free

This week’s Gospel reading speaks to us about morality. Morality is the way we live our lives as disciples of Jesus. James exhorts us in the second reading: “be doers of the word and not hearers only”. The word of God is living and active. Rather than being something that can be grabbed and possessed, the Word of God grabs and possesses us, it spurs us on to action. We hear the word of God and we want to put it into practice.

Sounds good so far, right? Hear the word of God and put it into practice by living a moral life. But, there can often be a bit of a disconnect between faith and life. We hear about Jesus, we believe in him, we want to be his disciples, we understand that living the moral life is what this means. Then what do we get?

It seems like we get a bunch of rules and regulations. We want to follow Jesus, and we get a list of things we are not supposed to do: thou shalt not this, that, and the other thing. Whether it is the Ten Commandments, the moral teachings of the gospel, or something from the Catechism, it seems to outline a bunch of stuff we are not allowed to do.

God’s Teachings Through the Commandments

Doesn’t it seem like God looked at the human heart, found all the things we really want to do, then made commandments against it? Don’t we love to speak ill of our neighbor: can’t do it, that’s gossip. Don’t we just love to be angry at our enemies: can’t do it, we are supposed to love our enemies. Don’t we just love to indulge in any kind of pleasurable thing: can’t do it, that is lust, or greed, or gluttony. It seems like we are stuck in some cosmic tug of war.

On the one hand there is the moral code, and on the other, there are the inclinations of our hearts set in opposition. So, for many of us, life becomes a matter of trying to dodge the sin we might desire in our hearts. It is almost as if sin were potholes in the road: if we can just make it down the street without hitting any of the major potholes we will be ok. But, this is a crazy way to live life. And this is not what morality is supposed to be about. Morality is not a matter of avoiding sin. Rather, it’s about living life to the full.

Listen again to the words from Deuteronomy: hear the statutes and decrees (why? So that life will be miserable and you will be prone to fail? No) so that you may live, and may enter and take possession of the land. That is so beautiful, “hear the statutes and decrees so that you may live”. God gives us the commandments through Christ and the Church not because he wants us to struggle and fail, but because he wants us to be happy and blessed. We were not made for sin! We were made to be holy, to be with God, to live.

Sacraments Set Us Free

But, what about our sinful inclinations: today Christ labels it so well, there is a bunch of junk that can pour out of our hearts: evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, etc. We have inherited original sin, we are prone to fall. But, Christ came to help us. Through grace, we can be healed, maybe not totally in this life. Christ came to set us free, he came to purify our minds and our hearts.
Jesus did not come simply to give us a new set of rules and regulations; rather, he came to set us free. He does this especially through the sacraments. When we are baptized, confirmed, when we receive communion, confess our sins, when we are anointed, when you got married, when I got ordained, the grace of God is at work within us, making us more like Christ, healing us down to our hearts.

So the moral life was not given to us to make us miserable. It is a guide to true human fulfillment. While our hearts are set in opposition to the law, Christ came to set us free. We cannot lose hope. Christ came to renew and transform us, Christ came to heal our hearts, so that a life of discipleship is not one of misery, but one of joy. Right here in this Holy Eucharist Christ pours his life out for us, as we receive his body and blood, he can transform us, heal us, set us free so that we can live and be with him in that promised land that awaits us.

Rules Versus Freedom

Today’s readings get to the heart of something I think is very important: namely the difference between the rules and a relationship with Christ. Christianity is not simply a set of rules and regulations. Jesus does not set out for us a bunch of hoops to jump through, he wants us to follow him. He is calling us by name. He invites us to be his followers. He tells us that he will lead us to his Father. He promises to give us life eternal. Jesus did not come to simply give us a new set of rules. His criticism of the Pharisees shows that pretty well. Jesus doesn’t want us to jump through hoops, he wants to change our hearts. But, does this mean there are no rules? No regulations? No guidelines?

Why Do Catholics Have So Many Rules?

There are 1752 canons in the code of Canon law that Catholics follow. But, why do those rules exist? The law of the church helps to organize the outward structures of the church, it safeguards the rights of the faithful, it gives structure and coherence to the body of Christ. The law of the church is never a substitute for faith in Christ. Rather, the law presupposes a personal relationship with Christ. Without faith in Christ, the laws of the church all seem pretty silly. Law and faith, it seems to me, go hand in hand. You really cannot have one without the other. Canon law without faith is silly; faith without canon law would be anarchy and chaos.

We always need to have a good mix between structure and spontaneity, between law and faith. If it’s all one and none of the other things will go poorly. A healthy life of faith is structured, but also spontaneously moved by Christ and the Spirit. But, some people’s life of faith is nothing but rules and regulations. For these people, there is mortal sin everywhere, and they are just trying to dodge it. Here, the only reason we would go to church is to be sure we don’t end up going to hell. It seems like the life of faith is more than just the rules, just dodging sin.

What are Cafeteria Catholics?

But, we can go to the other extreme as well. Some people say that all that matters is their relationship with God. This extreme usually says: I’m a person of faith, but I don’t need religion. I can talk to God any time I want to, but I don’t have to go to church. I believe in God, but I don’t believe all those rules the church made up, etc. Sometimes, these individuals are called “Cafeteria Catholics”, meaning they walk down the line of what the Catholic Church offers, and they pick and choose what they like and walk away from the aspects they do not like about the church. A life of faith like this has no root, no foundation, no guidance, no anchor. Without structure, human beings end up in anarchy.

So, there always has to be a good mix. If you tend to be a more rule-driven person, spend time praying to Christ as a way to build up that relationship with him. Ask him to fill your heart with the guidance of the Spirit. If you have that spiritual relationship with Christ, make sure you learn more about the implications of this relationship. Learn why the Church teaches what it does. Make sure your life of faith is structured with sound teachings. Faith without rules is anarchy, but rules without faith do not make sense either. If we are going to grow in our life of faith, we need to grow closer to Christ, but also to learn the teachings and practice of the faith.

Jesus did not come to earth simply to give us a new set of rules, or hoops to jump through. He calls us to a change of heart. But, we will never be able to have that change of heart unless we listen to his voice, a voice that speaks to us through the teachings of the Church.

Living Out the Word of God

St. James’ letter is enjoyable to read because he is very down to earth and practical. Consider the line from today’s reading: “be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” I think that St. James is describing a disconnect that many of us feel from time to time. We want to do the right thing. But, if we are honest, we do not do the right thing. We hear the Word of the Lord, but we find it tough to live it out.

It seems that the Pharisees are being challenged by Jesus for the same gap, the same disconnect. They are passing along the teachings of the Bible, but he is pointing out that they are not getting to the deep truth of the law. Concerned with actions, they are missing something. It is good for us to pay attention, because if we stay concerned with actions alone, we will miss something too.
Whenever we read the gospels it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking about the Pharisees as being bad people. They tend to get the brunt of Jesus’ wrath. We can even use the word Pharisee as an insult right? Don’t be a Pharisee… But, Pharisees were anything but bad people.

Pharisees were religious leaders. They were teachers of the Torah. They studied the scriptures. They tried to live the commands. They tried to teach others to live God’s commands too. In fact, I often think that they had my job. As pastor, my job is to receive God’s word. To put it into action in my own life and to teach other people how to put it into action.

Finding Deeper Love through Jesus

So, where do they go wrong? In today’s Gospel, they are focusing on the washing of hands, which, we can all agree is a good thing to do. We can all agree that cleanliness is a good thing. Hopefully you wouldn’t say that Jesus is teaching us to break the laws or the commandments. Actually, what Jesus is doing is showing us that we need to go deeper. What is the cause of the gap between being hearers and doers of the word? What is the gap between wanting to do the right thing, and not being able to do it. Simple: the gap is the human heart.

Perhaps the most radical thing that Jesus did was to extend the gospel into the hearts of the faithful. You see, the law does a great job of telling us about our conduct: do not kill, do not commit adultery, etc. But, Jesus wants more. He wants his love and mercy to live in our hearts. The grace of the New Testament is that God can change us from the inside out.

The Pharisees probably never considered that a person could have a new heart. Perhaps they never considered that a person could get rid of anger, but they could stop from killing people. Perhaps they never considered that a person could get rid of lust, but they could stop from committing adultery. We would all agree that abstaining from murder and adultery is really great. But, if we are still holding on to anger, jealousy, lust, envy, etc. We will never be truly free.

Focusing on the externals is much easier than the conversion of the heart. This is why Jesus is arguing with the Pharisees today. Of course it’s important to follow the commandments, but to live freedom to the fullest requires a new heart.

How to Open Your Heart to Jesus

So, how do we get this new heart? Number 1: prayer. God can change us from the inside out. But, he doesn’t do it against our will. Prayer is a time for us to call on God and to invite him in. “Lord, change my heart. Give me your grace. Take away my anger, fill me with compassion.” These prayers are really effective. And, we only have to pray like this for the rest of our lives. So, no better time than to start today.

A second step would be to bring some conscious awareness to your thoughts and emotions. How many of us can even say that we recognize that we are being affected by anger, jealousy or the lot? Yet, we might say that we are struggling with sin. Jesus tells us that all sin starts in the heart. So, if we take some time to bring awareness to what is going on in our internal life, we might find the roots of some of our issues.

Third, it can be really helpful to reach out to another person. If we are carrying around any number of negative feelings and emotions, it can feel overpowering at times. It’s really hard to change our lives when we are burdened with these things. Yet, by sharing what is going on with a trusted friend, the burden seems a little lighter. Also, I find that journaling really helps. To get negative stuff down on paper helps to take away its power.

Prayer, awareness, and assistance. These things can really help to give us a new heart, one that is full of love and goodness. Because, the Pharisees had one thing right, we do need to follow the commandments. But, Christ has something even more amazing in mind. He wants us to live a true life of freedom, inside and out. And isn’t that what we all want?

 

Gospel from the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
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 summoned the crowd again and said to them,
“Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.

“From within people, from their hearts,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.”

About the Author

Father Jake Runyon is a priest in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend where he serves as the Rector and Pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne. This post was originally published on his personal blog Docete and is shared here with permission.

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