The Gospel for this Sunday, the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, comes from an abridged version of Mark 7:1-23. The missing verses only expand on what Jesus means by observing human traditions and how the digestive tract has nothing to do with the motivations of the heart.

Jesus has been in public ministry for a while, His apostles have been chosen, and He is getting a reputation as a wonder worker. The miracle of the feeding of the 5000 has definitely attracted the attention of the ‘higher ups’, and we see some scribes and Pharisees arrive - who have specifically made the journey from Jerusalem to Galilee to find out for themselves what is going on.

Places like Capernaum would not have had the same refined manners as the more wealthy and learned residents of Jerusalem. Fishermen, shepherds and farmers aren’t going to be overly picky about personal cleanliness. Whatever the disciples have been doing (or not doing) about the ceremonial washings that are de rigueur in Jerusalem hasn’t been worthy of comment up until now.

Either these infractions of tradition got up their noses big time, or they didn’t have any better question to ask, so the scribes and Pharisees decided to pick on Jesus by bringing their (the disciples') lack of perfect hygiene up for public discussion.
Boy did they underestimate Jesus!

Jesus took their question, turned it like a mirror back on to the questioners, and then used it to springboard a major teaching to the gathered crowds. A bit like a leg spin bowler serving up a deceptive googly with an expectation of hitting the stumps and the batsman thwacks it for six.

Do not underestimate Jesus.
Do not pick on Him.
Do not pick on His disciples.
It will backfire big time.

How did these ceremonial washings of hands begin? Don’t know. But it could have been a measure introduced to stop the spread of infection within the community in bygone days.

However now it has become a bit of a yardstick to measure who takes God seriously and who doesn’t, and to pressurize people into conformity. Was it something God actually asked the people of Israel to do? No. But these Jerusalemites are enforcing it as though it was of the same importance as the Law and the Prophets.

It is much, much easier to keep your hands clean than your heart clean.

God did require cleanliness and associated preparations for public worship of Him, as is His due. He deserves the best from us, and sloppiness won’t do. But it was also as a physical reminder to ready the mind, heart and soul for worship too.

Jesus calls them hypocrites because they are more concerned with the minutiae of hand cleanliness than with honouring and reverencing God in our hearts, thoughts and feelings.

What is a hypocrite? It was a name used for an actor under an assumed character, or a dissembler, and became a term to describe the disguise (or concealment) of one's real nature, motives, or feelings behind a false appearance.

We have in these visitors from Jerusalem people who are supposed to be 'the best of the best' in putting God first in their lives, and they are more concerned with infractions of ceremonial handwashing than with the worship offered in mind, heart, and will to God.

Jesus tells us (and the big crowd that has gathered around Him) the truth:
nothing from the outside can make us unclean or defiled,
only acting on the evil thoughts and malicious desires of our hearts makes us truly unclean and truly defiled.

Jesus then goes on to make us aware of just how much He fully understands human iniquity and our capacity for evil.

(verse 21) For from within the hearts of men 
come/ discharge/proceed/project (ekporeuontai)
evil/ bad/worthless/depraved/injurious (kakoi)
thoughts/ discussion/consideration/debate (dialogismoi).
sexual immorality (porneiai)- feminine plural
theft (klopai)- feminine plural
murder (phonoi) slaughter, killing- masculine plural
adultery (moicheiai) - feminine plural

The plural is very interesting here, because it includes collectively planned evil, evil with the support and encouragement and teamwork of others.
But there’s more….

(verse 22) greed, (pleonexiai) covetousness, avarice, aggression, desire for advantage – feminine plural
wickedness, (ponēriai) iniquities, depravity, malice; plural plots, sins- feminine plural.
deceit, (dolos) guile, treachery, tricks, wiles- masculine singular
debauchery, (aselgeia) licentiousness- feminine singular.
envy, (ophthalmos) the eye; the mind's eye, by implication, vision; figuratively, envy – masculine singular.
slander, (blasphēmia) abusive or scurrilous language, blasphemy, vilification- feminine singular.
arrogance, (hyperēphania) pride, disdain, haughtiness- feminine singular.
foolishness, (aphrosynē) want of sense, impiety, wickedness, egotism; recklessness- feminine singular.

Even if we might debate how poorly the ancients considered the morality of women relative to the morality of men; this list doesn’t let anyone off the hook, male or female, alone or in groups.

It is also a stark reminder that some forms of depravity take an element of organisation and teamwork, and that we can be culpable not only as individuals but as parts of groups.

Ouch! Gulp! Oh Ohh!

Yes, the Lord Jesus is giving us an opportunity today to look deep into our hearts, and to acknowledge the depths of wickedness that linger there, to accept our own culpability,
and to ask and beg for His mercy.
For only He can truly make us clean on the inside.

May each one of us accept that loving challenge from Him. Amen.

You might like to pray this adaptation of a well-loved prayer in response:

Lord Jesus, I come before You, just as I am,
I am sorry for my sins,
the sins I am aware of, the sins I may have forgotten,
the sins I do not yet comprehend the full gravity of;
​the sins I have committed through human weakness,
the evils that I don’t yet understand as evils,
squashed my conscience about,
and yet have done them anyway.
I repent of my sins, please forgive me.
In Your Name, I forgive all others for what they have done against me.
I renounce Satan, the evil spirits and all their works.
I give You my entire self, Lord Jesus, now and forever.
I invite You into my life, Lord Jesus.
I accept You as my Lord, God and Saviour.
Heal me, change me, strengthen me in body, soul, and spirit.
Come Lord Jesus, cover me with Your Precious Blood,
and fill me with Your Holy Spirit.
I love You Lord Jesus. I praise You Jesus. I thank You Jesus.
I thank You for the enormity of Your mercy towards me.
I shall follow You every day of my life. Amen.

Mary, my Mother, Queen of Peace,
​and all the Angels and Saints,
please help me to ratify this prayer with my whole life. Amen.

"Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners." Message of the Angel to the children of Fatima 1916

This message was given at the second visit of the Angel of Peace, in the summer of that year.

What is a sacrifice? It is something a person gives up for the sake of a higher cause or the acceptance without protest of an unsought suffering.

Sacrifice isn't something that we talk about much anymore except in the context of elite athletes, memorial days to acknowledge those who died in the Defence Forces, ballet dancers and ambitious businessmen. Sometimes we mention it around Mother's Day, or at a eulogy for someone with strong family values. When Lent comes around we talk about what we might be giving up as a penance, but not specifically in the context of sacrifice.

But in God's economy, sacrifice must be important otherwise the Angel would not have encouraged it. We see it first in Cain and Abel offering to God the fruits of their labours. Genesis 4:3-4. We see it in the temple worship offerings of oil, bread, wine and livestock, Exodus 29. It reaches its pinnacle in Jesus, 'He is the sacrifice that takes our sins away, and not only ours, but the whole world's.' 1 John 2:2.

We also see in God's economy that sacrifices have an effect on sin. Some of the temple sacrifices were referred to as sin offerings, and there were whole lists of different sacrifices depending on the role a person played in the community, Leviticus 4 and 5. Priests offered a young bull, leaders offered he-goats and individuals offered she-goats. Each offering was a request for mercy and leniency.

The three children of Fatima really took this request of the angel to heart, and what they did can guide us in our own response. At times of family sorrow, they would offer God their tears. They would offer up the pains of being misunderstood and treated with contempt. They would forgo their lunches and give them to poor children. They would choose to go without drink and suffer thirst, and the consequent headaches. They would offer up any feeling of abandonment they felt. Often they needed the mutual encouragement of each other to keep going through the difficulties of each sacrifice.

Reparation isn't a word that gets used much these days either. It crops up sometimes in court cases that get a lot of media attention. Usually it is in a financial context, for example, payments to the children of the stolen generations, to victims of sexual abuse, to victims of severe injuries following a car accident. A few years ago there was a lot of debate about federal parliament saying an official 'sorry' to the children of the stolen generations because the lawyers were worried that saying 'sorry' would be an admission of guilt and open the way for appeals for monetary compensation.

In God's economy the concept of compensation is clearly set out, in order that there may be speedy resolution of situations between people and so that there are just limits to what is expected by way of compensation. Exodus 21 and 22 set out many of them. For example if two men quarrel and come to blows, if the blows incapacitate one of them from earning a living, the other must compensate the injured one and care for him until he is completely cured. A thief, if caught, is required to repay double what he stole. Other transgressions of the property of another require full restitution or double depending on circumstances.

But reparation is a term used in Leviticus 5 to fix transgressions against God. There are three categories. The first appears to be giving less to God than what is due to Him (tithes, ritual sacrifices). The second is when someone realizes after the fact that they transgressed against a commandment. The third is about sins of fraud through deception, perjury, or exploitation. In each case the reparation is in two parts. The first part requires a standard offering of an unblemished ram. The second part is determining the value of what was denied God or someone else, and paying back the whole sum plus 20 percent. Now we can understand better the promise of Zaccheaus to Jesus in Luke 19, 'Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.'

This teaches us that when we sin, we are expected to make reparation as well as seeking forgiveness. It indicates that we need to do something over and above to restore our relationship with God. For Catholics that is why the priest gives us a penance to do when we go to Confession to seek mercy and pardon for our sins. Giving us a penance trains us to take repairing our relationship with God seriously. Putting it another way, if you promised a dear friend that you would meet them for lunch and then you didn't show up, seeking forgiveness is the first obvious thing you should do. Even if your friend forgives you, your relationship has been damaged and needs a bit of a grand gesture (flowers, chocolates, movie tickets etc) to begin the restoration process.

All this begs the question, 'When was the last time I took any efforts towards a grand gesture for God?'

Scary isn't it? Especially when the next part of the Angel's message reminds us that God is offended by our sins. Each and every time I sin, I offend God, no matter how big or small that sin is.

Mostly we don't understand the full horror of our sins because we so easily forget how good, kind, beautiful, loving, provident and almighty God really is. It is a poor comparison, but maybe it will help. Think of a tender hearted mother and a child. When a mother discovers that her child has lied to her, she is sad because her child did not trust her with the truth, because her child has disappointed her by choosing the lesser path, and because it will be so much more difficult now to help her child on the path to truth, goodness and happiness. The better the mother, the more her heart will grieve. God grieves even more because sin closes the door to heaven for us. No one with unforgiven sin can be admitted into the fullness of the presence of God that heaven is. For sins that don't completely rupture our relationship with God, we thank Him for the merciful option of having our souls purified in purgatory.

The last part of the Angel's message invites us to offer up our sacrifices not just for ourselves but also for others so that they may be granted the gift of conversion. In the later messages of Our Lady at Fatima she often requested sacrifices for sinners.

This anecdote from 'Fatima in Lucia's own words' is instructive:

"One day, I was asked if Our Lady had told us to pray for sinners, and I said she had not. At the first opportunity, while the people were questioning Jacinta, Francisco called me aside and said: 'You lied just now! How could you say that Our Lady didn't tell us to pray for sinners? Didn't she ask us to pray for sinners then?' 'For sinners, no! She told us to pray for peace, for the war to end. But for sinners, she told us to make sacrifices.' 'Ah! That's true. I was beginning to think you had lied.' "

Such is the importance of sacrifices for sinners compared to prayer for sinners.

Let's do something today in response to the heavenly requests that have been given to us.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Blessed Francisco, Blessed Jacinta, holy Sr Lucia, pray for us.

In Rome, and in many diocesan cathedrals around the world - and hopefully some parish churches as well - preparations are being made for 24 Hours For The Lord at the end of this week (13/14 Mar 2015). It is a wonderful initiative of Pope Francis, to keep the lights on and the doors open for a full 24 hours, and to invite people to come and pray and to return to the Sacrament of Penance. Many generous priests will be giving up sleep over those 24 hours to be used by Jesus to bring His Mercy to all those who seek it. May they be richly rewarded for such service.

In many other churches there will be opportunities to attend the sacrament of Penance under the 2nd Rite of Reconciliation in these final weeks before Good Friday. At those times the community gathers, prays, listens to Scripture and has an opportunity to think about those areas of their lives that are not in harmony with God's love before going up individually to one of the several priests available to confess their sins, followed by a time of prayer and communal thanksgiving.

The big question is: How can we make it easier for people who haven't experienced God's personal Mercy in a long time to take that daunting step into the confessional?

For starters you need a team of well-prepared parishioners outside the doors of the church building. People need a friendly face on the outside of a church as they do the 'Will I or won't I go in?' battle. The courage it takes to get over a church threshold is formidable, and the battle happens outside not inside. They become a visual reminder of the Father waiting for the prodigal child to return home.

You need people outside, so that someone can come up and ask, 'What's going on inside?' 'Why are there lights on at 2am?' and so an answer can be given, 'Pope Francis has asked us to have open house for 24 hours so that people can pray and so they can experience God's Mercy in the sacrament of Penance. If you wanted to go inside, you would be most welcome.'

Then if someone says, 'But I don't know how to pray' or 'I have forgotten how to go to confession' or 'Can you tell me what sin is, so that I know what I need to confess?' your team can help them.

If you can have a similar team on the inside of the church as well, that's even better. You need people on the alert for those who have become emotional before and especially after the sacrament of penance. Do you have a ready supply of tissues? Do you have people on alert for those going through the 'Will I or won't I risk going through the confessional door?' battle who can pray silently, and can encourage when appropriate. Do you have people ready to listen to those who have just experienced God's Mercy? Do you have people who can get up to a microphone every hour or so and give testimony to how prayer and the sacrament of Penance have changed their lives?

In the confessionals themselves, have the priests been supplied with printed material to hand out to penitents? Things like Parish Welcome kits (with information on parish groups, how to contact the parish office, Mass times, Reconciliation times, RCIA and how to enroll a child in a Catholic school etc), How to Pray pamphlets, small booklets of the Compendium of the Catechism and Gospels. Anything that will assist a penitent to keep going forward in the grace they have received help from God's Mercy.

Person to person interaction is best, but even that needs paperwork support, so here are some resources to download:

Sin is when we do not love God and others as Jesus taught us to. That's the answer our children going through sacramental initiation receive. Pondering our lives in the light of the Ten Commandments is valuable when preparing for the Sacrament of Penance. These documents are A4 size, one for adults and one for children.