August 29th - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Dt 4:1-2, 6-8; Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

St James calls us to be “doers of the word and not hearers only” (1:22). We should not lack consistency between our interior motives and our external actions. Our actions, not just our thoughts, matter. Getting our actions to line up with our best intentions is the hardest part of the art of Christian living, which is why we need the grace of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our weakness. When you are confronted with your own sin and lack of desire to change, pray the “Jesus Prayer” - “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This might help your mind to be focused on God, not the temptation.

In the Gospel, Jesus teaches that our moral status is not about what foods we eat, but about how we behave, how we act. It is possible that we could observe all kinds of trivial religious rules yet be living in grave sin in far more important matters. To be truly holy, we must change both our behavior and our thoughts. God wants us to live a virtuous and morally upright life because he wants us transformed more and more into the image of his Son. God wants us to give him our whole lives, to live in complete unity with him. If we give our hearts entirely to him, the power of Jesus’s Resurrection can transform us so that we become more like him. Our actions will then flow seamlessly from our hearts because we have been transformed to live like Christ.

• Do you tend to think about your moral choices as independent actions, or as the means to becoming more like the “image and likeness of God,” in which you were created?
• Is there an area in your life in which you think you are not entirely fulfilling God’s commandments, but Jesus is calling you to transformation and freedom through His grace and love?
• How might God be calling you to live out his Word more abundantly in your actions?
• The true Gospel demands more of us than simply going through the motions—the true Gospel calls us to give our whole being to Christ. How can you lift up your heart to the Lord, surrender and give him permission to transform you?