Word of the Week

22th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Undefiled: Amiantos (Gk): meaning “not defiled, unsoiled”, or “free from that by which the nature of a thing is deformed and debased, or its force and vigour impaired.”

In Christ’s purity, “he knew nothing of sin, but came only to expiate the sins of the people. The Church, however, clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal’. All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners. In everyone, the weeds of sin will still be mixed with the good wheat of the Gospel until the end of time.  Hence, the Church gathers sinners already caught up in Christ's salvation but still on the way to holiness: The Church is therefore holy, though having sinners in her midst, because she herself has no other life but the life of grace…” (CCC 827).

The aforementioned Greek can be found four times in the New Testament. James uses the term to teach on the practice of religion. While putting religion within its appropriate context of worship, James reminds us that worship ought to lead to charitable acts of service. Such acts leave us unstained by the world (Js. 1:26-27) (Hahn and Minch, 16). In essence, how we act on Monday through Saturday should reflect how we worship on Sunday. Christ is the undefiled gift of purity (cf. 1 Pet.1:4; Hb.7:26) we have received in our Baptism and we are called to nurture and sustain a life of purity through prayer. By way of prayer and the frequenting of the sacramental life (Confessional and reception of the Eucharist), our weekly interactions will begin to reflect who we worship on Sundays!

In addition, the author to the Hebrews charges us to practice the gift of purity most definitively in the sacrament of marriage. Honoring the marriage bed, man is called to live chastely, avoiding any licentious behavior (adultery and fornication), bearing witness to the marriage of Christ and his Church (Heb.13:4).

During this 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we are called to reflect into the salient feature of the new covenant, the interior life. The ritual laws of cleanliness to the old covenant are no longer binding to the faithful; rather the cleanliness of the heart is what holds man accountable. Scriptures remind us that the letter of the law (exterior life) must be guided by the heart of the law (interior life), which is directed by pure motives and a healthy relationship with Christ (cf. Mk. 7:1-23). Our intentions (interior) must remain pure that our actions (exterior) remain unstained. In Christ, we have the incarnation of law, relationship in the flesh. Thus, we have the task to see laws as an opportunity to remain in Christ, and in turn share Christ with the world.

“Purity of heart is to will one thing”

--Soren Kierkegard

Primary Texts Consulted

Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.

Hahn, Scott and Minch, Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Bible Study. The Letter of St. James, the First and Second letters of St. Peter and the Letter of St. Jude. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2008.

 

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