Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
February 8, 2022
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Mark 7:1-13
Jesus seemed always to be surrounded by crowds anxious to benefit from his healing power. But there were also nitpicking scribes and Pharisees always lurking in the background trying to find fault with what Jesus said and did. For one thing they claimed that he and his disciples were not faithful observers of the law of Moses.
Jesus responds that there are priorities in religious practice. Some things are more important than others. Jesus is not opposed to religious tradition except when it’s observed without love of God and neighbor.
We Catholics have religious practices too: the rosary for example, and Mass attendance on Sunday. But these practices and others are only pleasing to God when they are done with love and conscious attention to him.
