START OF MASS COMMENTS I would like to promote Baptism today. Our Church must continually send out the gospel call for people to believe and be baptized here. Baptism is used by God to cleanse His people of sin; Jesus made it a command for us to implement it in His Church. Matthew’s gospel ends with “Go and make disciples and baptism them in the Name of the Father and the Son and The Holy Spirit.” Vs.19-20 Do you know that a high percentage of families and in our neighborhoods and schools are of unbaptized peoples?! Thousands of children are among this number, too. They need baptism for salvation, right? How are they going to get baptized unless we Christians invite them to come and follow Christ and be in our churches? Pray that we witness the Faith and bring families with children into our parish, particularly from these neighborhood elementary schools: Burtonsville, Greencastle, Cloverly, Cannon Road, Stonegate, Galway, Calverton, Bond Mill, and Fulton (Elementary) school. There are other outlying ones within twenty minutes of our parish church, too.
Our outreach of next weekend’s Family Fest will hopefully reach some people (all with your help) among that number. Extend an invitation to Family Fest, emphasizing how it is mostly a free event. Extend an invitation to our Sunday Family Masses at 9 am and our Monday night Religious Ed. classes, too. Invite families at the parade out front in two Saturdays to visit our parish church, and comes to our free Mothers of Pre-Schoolers Wednesday program. Each parish member is meant to be a parish promoter and a Gospel spreader! “Let the little children come to Me, for such as these do belong in the kingdom!” so says Our Lord. Mt.19:14
22nd SUNDAY HOMILY EXCERPTS FROM THE SEPTEMBER FIRST SCRIPTUES.
Gospel: Mark 7 The Pharisees (and) scribes from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, (and) they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands…rather than carefully…purifying themselves…(but with not going so far) traditionally (with) purification of cups, jugs, kettles and (such).—So Pharisees and scribes did question him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but rather eat unclean? Epistle: James 1 Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, (be not) deluding yourselves. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction
and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
HOMILY PURE BELIEVERS
The Gospel today is one where people are urging Jesus and His followers to be better washed up before meals. They note the disciples have not fastidiously scrubbed up, like the Pharisees always do, and they ask Jesus: ‘How could you have them dare show up like that to a meal?’ Jesus will then respond to them in a wondering aloud manner about their own uncleanliness of hearts, minds and souls—and not just their outward appearances—and he says: Then why would you show up with the following sins within you, making you quite impure?! He lists their sins that they thought were hidden (but that He can see): ”Evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance and folly.“ That’s quite a list! He tells this crowd of criticizers of outward appearance: How can you show this disregard for God’s commands in your actions and wonders, and think yourselves as clean? Who would dare show up like that to anything, especially as to a religious occasion?!’
It’s quite the turn-around on them, isn’t it?
I remember my young days at home and Mom making sure that I had clean hands and self before sitting down to a meal. I can also think of other times when I had become quite dirty, filthy or stinking—and insisting I get a good bath or shower in. I also knew that the stains in my clothing were going to be quite the match up for the boastful cleaning power of Tide detergent.
As for sins I was thinking about or doing, sometimes I also thought Mom could see right through some of my hidden ones, too, as she’d say sometimes this Momism: “You can’t pull the wool over my eyes, John.”
The Gospel of Mark records that the Pharisees and scribes were appalled at how Jesus’ disciples “ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands” (v.1). Mark then gives a commentary on the washings that Jesus’ apostles seemingly failed to uphold: He comments—“For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders; and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify [Greek, baptisōntai] themselves]; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing [Greek, baptismous] of cups and pots and vessels (3-4).” That’s the text of focus here.
This commentary actually has much to do about baptism of people. Jesus came to purify people, and He did so by plunging our sins into His death on the Cross, and uniting it to His Last Supper self-offering for our sake.
Baptism is more than some outward cleaning; it’s about an inner cleansing and given to God’s standard and God purification—the taking away of sin.
If the apostles seemed to be a bit untidy for the holy meal, as appeared to be on the standards of the fastidious Pharisees, then what of the untidiness of all these accusers hurling criticisms at them?
The Bible talks about how man is not able to take away their own sins. Only the Lamb of God in Christ Jesus can do that. Or, only God alone can do so, as Jesus pointed out back in His Mark 2:1-12 moment. He is the One come to clean us up of our sins. Outward soap washing is not deep cleaning enough to the soul! That is what Mark’s Gospel starts out with in its message as John the Baptist declares in Mark 1:8: “I baptize you with the Jordan River, in symbolic measure, but He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit power.”
We examine Mark 7 and it is really about sin cleansing. Here are these very Pharisee and scribe men caught in resisting the Word of Jesus and of not wanting their hearts changed for holiness by Jesus. Their cup washing and other such rituals was thus for show only. Jesus will quote Isaiah on them to say they live in hypocrisy and their human precepts will be in vain.
Baptism brings a cleaning that the Church provides in Christ to “take away the sins of the world.” John 3:5 has Jesus say: I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’” (cf. 3:3: it is only by “that a man is born again”) This is baptism work. We see it proclaimed in the early days of the Church, as in Acts. 22:16 “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” Of course, in Romans 6 there is the important tie made to being plunged into Christ’ Mercy, that His death on the Cross was for the forgiveness of our sins, as then baptism applies this holy offering, even started at the Last Supper, in Jesus’ allowing all of this Mercy to come forth from Him. Romans 6:3-4 says “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were there- fore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
I would dare compare all the people in the world standing for secular humanism and self-forms of salvation as those who are like this mistaken group in opposition of Jesus and His company of apostles and disciples. They mock our outward stains and blemishes, but at least we have a remedy for them and all our worse inward ones. We honestly own up to our sins, and present them to God for His mercy.
As for those on the outside of Christ, there are haunting questions.
Who will deliver them from their sins? Or deliver their children and family from the wrath that is to come, which is God’s standard of holiness and pureness of heart? They’ll find themselves as unclean for the kingdom of God.
It’s why we preach baptism for the forgiveness of sins as a fundamental part of our faith. Sincere acknowledgement and repentant sorrow for our sins then leads one to the Action of Christ Jesus to baptize us into His new life.
We must call the world to this font of renewal. Please bring children and adults to get baptized and to join into the Church, Christ’ Body! It’s your commission, dear Christian.
To live in God’s mercy then means to live in the world as His servants to help the world towards living for the kingdom of God among us. The paired reading on this Sunday Mass (to the gospel) is from James 1. The apostle speaks of the works that accompany one’s regeneration into new life. He would note that religious types like Pharisees and scribes exposed a false front to the piety. He says how their surface faith would not care for the widows and orphans of their day, for not wanting to “get their hands dirty” with that hard work of love. Instead, they want to act all pious and pure on the surface, but James exhorts how the following of Jesus will require much better than that! James exhort the Christ follower to be more honest and open to “welcome the Word able to save your souls… into a Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father so filled with caring love (as inspired by Jesus Whose life has been put deep within you)?” That’s what doing our Christian faith is—it’s a living out of our baptism!” Being Christ- like.
Amen. Done.
FOR SOME POST HOMILY THOUGHTS, IN THIS WEB VERSION, TAKE A LOOK AT HOW THE BIBLE DIRECTLY LINKS BAPTISM TO SALVATION.
Notes The Bible directly links baptism to salvation:
- Mark 16:16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
- John 3:5 “Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’” (cf. 3:3: “unless a man is born again …”)
- Acts 2:38-41 “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.’ And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation.’ So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (cf. 9:17-18; 1 Corinthians 12:13: both associate the Holy Spirit with baptism)
- Acts 22:16 “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” (cf. 9:17-18)
- Romans 6:3-4 “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
- 1 Corinthians 6:11 “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
- Titus 3:5 “He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit…”
In Acts 2:38-41 alone we learn that baptism brings: (1) “forgiveness of sins;” (2) the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which no unregenerate person could possess; (3) salvation (“save yourselves”); and (4) inclusion in the rank of saved “souls” (cf. Galatians 3:27).
Romans 6:3-4 incorporates the blood and redeeming death of Jesus into baptism by referring to his “death.” So also does the larger passage of 1 Peter 3:14-22; 4:1. We get put into Christ.
St. Peter asserts that “baptism … saves” us (1 Peter 3:21). If a dispute arises as to whether “baptism saves” us or not, and an inspired Bible passage states “baptism saves,” and Mark 16:16 also asserts that “he who believes and is baptized will be saved” — are those not answers to the very question being asked? How could they be any more plain and obvious than they are?
The larger passage of 1 Peter 3 is very instructive. The Bible often uses natural things as symbols of supernatural ones — for example, Jonah being in the belly of the whale three days and then emerging alive as a symbol of Jesus being dead for three days and then rising; many parables use similar parallelism. “Saved” in reference to Noah’s Ark meant physical, wholly-natural “salvation” from drowning. But then Peter uses that as an illustration of the supernatural sacrament of baptism, which “corresponds” to Noah’s Ark as an analogy (the Ark being a natural prototype of a supernatural thing).
It doesn’t follow that Peter’s saying that this baptism “saves” us is also merely symbolic. Peter doesn’t say that! He throws in the fact that this baptism was not merely “a removal of dirt from the body” (not merely a physical, natural thing), but related to suffering with (3:14, 16-17; 4:1) and being resurrected with Christ (3:21), just as St. Paul also taught (even more explicitly) in Romans 6:3-4.
Throughout the New Testament, baptism is seen as imperative and the means by which the early Church would know who was part of their fold or not. This was true for Paul (Acts 22:16; cf. 9:17-18). As soon as he was “persuaded” of Christianity, the first thing he did was get baptized, which in turn washed away his sins.
- Acts 8:12-13 “But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. …”
- Acts 8:34-38 “And the eunuch said to Philip, ‘About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news of Jesus. And as they went along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?’ And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.”
The baptism of entire “households” also strongly implies infant baptism:
- Acts 16:14-15 “One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyati’ra, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul. And when she was baptized, with her household …”
- Acts 16:32-33 “And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family.”
- Acts 18:8 “Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:16 “I did baptize also the household of Steph’anas. …”
This leads back to my homily on the importance of a good baptism, one that leads to a life of living and doing Jesus in our becoming like Christ.
We need Jesus in us. We need to be baptized. The Bible says it is a must. There is no outside way of purifying our life, nor actions to make us good until we are letting Jesus be the Lord and Savior of our lives. “Be baptized and believe in His Name” so does the Gospel tell us.