THE OFFERING OF OUR HEARTS IN WORSHIP

 Meditation for Tuesday of the 5^th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B
(Gen 1:20-2:4; Mk 7:1-13)

The creation story has two important high points: The creation of man and the creation of the seventh day! God created man in His own image, and blessed him with fruitfulness and authority over every other creature. But on the seventh day, God drew attention to Him, and kept the last day of creation to Himself. Thus, He who is the source of all creation shall be at its end! “And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” So man and other creatures will not be ends in themselves, but they must continue to look ahead to the seventh that is owned by no creature but God Himself. “All creatures look to you to be fed in due season” (Ps 145:15). 

But the Pharisees and Scribes gathered together to Jesus to look down on Him and to criticize Him. They asked Him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?” They stood before Jesus but their hearts were not with Him; their hearts were tied to the observance of the tradition of the elders and seeking human approval instead of seeking the face of God. “This people honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me...” since creation did not end on the sixth day, man cannot be law unto himself. However, since in Jesus God became man, Jesus Christ is ‘The First Born of all creation’ (Col 1:15), so that human observances cannot contradict the divine mandates. The blessing of man on the sixth day of creation is now completely fulfilled through Jesus Christ, who also carries within Him the fulfilment of the blessing of the seventh day of rest!

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts! (Ps 84:1). It is beautiful to gather around Jesus; how attractive is His presence! Sometimes we come to Him, but our hearts are tied to money, human problems, or miraculous powers. Let us lift up our whole heart to Him and we shall receive answers to our prayers, Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Tuesday February 9^th, 2021.
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