When we were growing up, one of the common expressions among us was “cross my heart” to indicate the sincerity and truthfulness of what one is saying. It is often reinforced with the making of a sign of the cross on one’s chest or heart. It is a beautiful expression that shows us the centrality of the human heart in our very being and person. Today’s gospel speaks also of the heart and the many “crossings” we have to make to ensure it remains true.
After an interruption of five Sundays, we now go back to Mark’s Gospel which we continue to read until the Solemnity of Christ the King in November that closes this liturgical year to usher in Advent, those four Sundays before Christmas. It is very funny, even ridiculous, that as early as last week, people have been raring to start the Christmas countdown in social media as they hurried to cross into September to get rid of the last few days of ghost month August which actually ends in September 9. Observe my dear reader that concept of “crossing” into the “ber” months while in the gospel, we find Jesus repeatedly crossing the lake to proclaim the kingdom of God. After miraculously feeding the more than 5000 people, Jesus sent the Twelve ahead of Him in crossing Lake Tiberias as He sent the crowd home. He then prayed on top of a hill and at 3AM, He followed His apostles by walking on water in the midst of a storm at the lake. After calming the sea, they came to Gennesaret, the setting of our gospel today. Mark reports the growing tensions among Jewish officials and Jesus who have become so popular among the people for His teachings and healings. Now, some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem have found a case against Jesus after observing His disciples non-compliance with their rituals of washing and purification. But Jesus would mince no words explaining the meaning of the rituals, citing the Prophet Isaiah to highlight their hypocrisy in showing off their “holiness” in complying with their ancient traditions of washing and cleansing.
See that after His initial explanation, Jesus “summoned the crowd again and said to them that nothing enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”(Mk.7:14-15) After this second explanation to the crowd, Mark tells us that “when Jesus got home away from the crowd … He said to His disciples that from within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”(Mk.7:17,21-22) Jesus had to separate – a sort of “crossing” the crowd from the Pharisees and scribes, and later separate too the Twelve from the rest to insist that holiness is about having a clean heart through conversion from sins, not from cleaning and washing of hands and utensils. That is what all these “crossings” imply in the gospel today, the need for our continuous conversion of the heart within, not in some outward appearances and practices. Discipleship is a life of crossing the lake with Jesus every night in darkness, even in the midst of storms. Discipleship is a daily crossing of the Red Sea, an Exodus, from slavery to freedom – a crossing from death into life, from sin into grace. Discipleship is a daily conversion of our hearts so that Jesus truly reigns in our lives.
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