22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 29, 2021 at St. Peter the Apostle and Saint William Parishes in Naples, FL
Deuteronomy 4, 1-2, 6-8 + Psalm 15 + James 1, 17-18, 21-27 + Mark 7, 1-8, 13-15, 21-23
Mark tells us at the beginning of this episode that these Pharisees and some Scribes came from Jerusalem. With this detail, Mark signals that these guys come with authority because Jerusalem was the place above all where purity was to be maintained, and the laws which provided purity were to be enforced. The whole system in Jerusalem was about deciding what or who was clean or unclean. If something or someone was unclean, it was restored to purity there, and you did that by keeping the law which told you what to do. … more »