Reading 1 1 Kgs 8:22-23, 27-30

Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD
in the presence of the whole community of Israel,
and stretching forth his hands toward heaven,
he said, “LORD, God of Israel,
there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below;
you keep your covenant of mercy with your servants
who are faithful to you with their whole heart.

“Can it indeed be that God dwells on earth?
If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you,
how much less this temple which I have built!
Look kindly on the prayer and petition of your servant, O LORD, my God,
and listen to the cry of supplication which I, your servant,
utter before you this day.
May your eyes watch night and day over this temple,
the place where you have decreed you shall be honored;
may you heed the prayer which I, your servant, offer in this place.
Listen to the petitions of your servant and of your people Israel
which they offer in this place.
Listen from your heavenly dwelling and grant pardon.”

Responsorial psalm PS 84:3, 4, 5 and 10, 11

R. (2) How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young—
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God!
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
O God, behold our shield,
and look upon the face of your anointed.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!

Alleluia Ps 119:36, 29b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Incline my heart, O God, to your decrees;
and favor me with your law.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 7:1-13

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
And on coming from the marketplace
they do not eat without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.)
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
"Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?"
He responded,
"Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,
as it is written:

This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
In vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.

You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition."
He went on to say,
"How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition!
For Moses said,
Honor your father and your mother,
and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.
Yet you say,
'If someone says to father or mother,
"Any support you might have had from me is qorban"'
(meaning, dedicated to God),
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God
in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things."

From: 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30

Solomon’s Dedication Prayer (Continuation)

[22] Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the
assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; [23] and said, “O
LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above or on earth be-
neath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk
before thee with all their heart.

[27] “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest
heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! [28]
Yet have regard to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O LORD my
God, hearkening to the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prays before thee
this day; [29] that thy eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the
place of which thou hast said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that thou mayest hear-
ken to the prayer which thy servant offers toward this place. [30] And hearken
thou to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel, when they pray
toward this place; yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place; and when thou
hearest, forgive.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

8:14-61. This long prayer of Solomon, the centerpiece of the Dedication of the
temple, has three parts to it: the first is a blessing (an act of thanksgiving to
God) for having fulfilled his promise (vv. 15-21); the second is a supplication for
the successors of David, for all the people, and even for foreigners resident in
the country (vv. 22-53); and the third, a blessing of Israel (v. 55), with a further
supplication on its behalf (vv. 56-61): “The Temple of Jerusalem, the house of
prayer that David wanted to build, will be the work of his son, Solomon. The
prayer at the dedication of the Temple relies on God’s promise and covenant,
on the active presence of his name among his People, recalling his mighty
deeds at the Exodus. The king lifts his hands toward heaven and begs the
Lord, on his own behalf, on behalf of the entire people and of the generations
yet to come, for the forgiveness of their sins and for their daily needs, so that
the nations may know that He is the only God and that the heart of his people
may belong wholly and entirely to him” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”,
2580).

8:22-53 The prayer properly speaking begins by proclaiming the greatness of
the God of Israel and his fidelity in keeping his promises. But the speaker, So-
lomon, immediately finds himself confronted by the mysteriousness of God:
God transcends all things (he is the creator of heaven and earth) yet he conde-
scends to dwelt in this temple. How is that possible? God is really in heaven
(Solomon goes on to assert) but he is also at the same time, in some way, in
the temple, where he has wanted “his name” to be (v. 29), that is, he himself in
person. Therefore (the prayer goes on to say), God hearkens from heaven when
man prays to him in that temple.

The temple is depicted as a place more of prayer than of offerings, and the atti-
tude of a person when he goes to the temple and when he prays should be one
of true and profound conversion—acknowledgment that his sin is the cause of his
misfortune. Thus, Solomon’s prayer is in line with the teaching and spirit of the
book of Deuteronomy. Its teaching includes the conviction that, through prayer,
man is delivered from evil, because God always forgives him. This aspect of pra-
yer is worth emphasizing because, as Bl. John Paul II has written, “’Conversion’
and ‘contrition’ are often considered under the aspect of the undeniable demands
which they involve and under the aspect of the mortification which they impose
for the purpose of bringing about a radical change of life. But we do well to recall
and emphasize the fact that ‘contrition’ and ‘conversion’ are even more a drawing
near to the holiness of God, a rediscovery of one’s true identity which has been
upset and disturbed by sin, a liberation in the very depth of the self and thus a re-
gaining of lost joy, the joy of being saved (cf. Ps 51:12), which the majority of peo-
ple in our time are no longer capable of experiencing” (”Reconciliatio Et Paeniten-
tia”, 31, 3).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Mark 7:1-13

The Tradition of the Elders

[1] Now when the Pharisees gathered together to Him (Jesus), with some of the
scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, [2] they saw that some of His disciples
ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. [3] (For the Pharisees, and all the
Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the el-
ders; [4] and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they
purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the
washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.) [5] And the Pharisees and the
scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not live according to the tradition of
the elders, but eat with hands defiled?” [6] And He said to them, “Well did Isaiah
prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me; [7] in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doc-
trines the precepts of men.’ [8] You leave the commandment of God, and hold
fast the tradition of men.

[9] And He said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of
God, in order to keep your tradition! [10] For Moses said, “Honor your father and
your mother’; and ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die’; [11]
but you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained
from me is Corban’ (that is, given to God)—[12] then you no longer permit him to
do anything for his father or mother, [13] thus making void the word of God
through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

1-2. Hands were washed not for reasons of hygiene or good manners but be-
cause the custom had religious significance: it was a rite of purification. In Exo-
dus 30:17ff the Law of God laid down how priests should wash before offering sa-
crifice. Jewish tradition had extended this to all Jews before every meal, in an ef-
fort to give meals a religious significance, which was reflected in the blessings
which marked the start of meals. Ritual purification was a symbol of the moral
purity a person should have when approaching God (Psalm 24:3ff; 51:4 and 9);
but the Pharisees had focused on the mere external rite. Therefore Jesus re-
stores the genuine meaning of these precepts of the Law, whose purpose is to
teach the right way to render homage to God (cf. John 4:24).

3-5. We can see clearly from this text that very many of those to whom St.
Mark’s Gospel was first addressed were Christians who had been pagans and
were unfamiliar with Jewish customs. The Evangelist explains these customs
in some detail, to help them realize the significance of the events and teachings
reported in the Gospel story.

Similarly, Sacred Scripture needs to be preached and taught in a way which
puts it within reach of its hearers. This is why Vatican II teaches that “it is for the
bishops suitable to instruct the faithful [...] by giving them translations of the sa-
cred texts which are equipped with necessary and really adequate explanations.
Thus the children of the Church can familiarize themselves safely and profitably
with the Sacred Scriptures, and become steeped in their spirit” (”Dei Verbum”,
25).

11-13. For an explanation of this text cf. note on Mt. 15:5-6. Jesus Christ, who
is the authentic interpreter of the Law, because as God He is its author, explains
the scope of the fourth commandment and points out the mistakes made by the
Jewish casuistry. There were many other occasions when He corrected mista-
ken interpretations offered by the Jewish teachers: for example, when He recalls
that phrase of the Old Testament, “Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy,
and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6, 1 Samuel 15:22; Sirach 35:4) in Matthew 9:13.

[The note on Matthew 15:5-6 states:

5-6. Over the years teachers of the Law (scribes) and priests of the temple had
distorted the true meaning of the fourth commandment. In Jesus’ time, they were
saying that people who contributed to the temple in cash or in kind were absolved
from supporting their parents: it would be sacrilegious for parents to lay claim to
this “corban” (offerings for the altar). People educated in this kind of thinking felt
that they were keeping the fourth commandment — in fact, fulfilling it in the best
way possible — and they were praised for their piety by the religious leaders of
the nation. But what in fact it meant was that, under the cloak of piety, they were
leaving elderly parents to fend for themselves. Jesus, who is Messiah and God, is
the one who can correctly interpret the Law. Here He explains the proper scope
of the fourth commandment, exposing the error of Jewish practice at the time. For
Christians, therefore, the fourth commandment includes affectionate help of pa-
rents if they are old or needy, even if one has other family, social or religious obli-
gations to attend to. Children should check regularly on whether they are looking
after their parents properly.]

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Red.

First reading
1 Kings 8:22-23,27-30 ©

'Listen to the prayer your servant makes in this place'

In the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord and, stretching out his hands towards heaven, said, ‘O Lord, God of Israel, not in heaven above nor on earth beneath is there such a God as you, true to your covenant and your kindness towards your servants when they walk wholeheartedly in your way. Yet will God really live with men on the earth? Why, the heavens and their own heavens cannot contain you. How much less this house that I have built! Listen to the prayer and entreaty of your servant, O Lord my God; listen to the cry and to the prayer your servant makes to you today. Day and night let your eyes watch over this house, over this place of which you have said, “My name shall be there.” Listen to the prayer that your servant will offer in this place.

‘Hear the entreaty of your servant and of Israel your people as they pray in this place. From heaven where your dwelling is, hear; and, as you hear, forgive.’

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 83(84):3-5,10-11 ©