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, deluding yourselves.

Today we see like in the times of Jesus, the same thing from pharisees, scribes, priests, Sanhedrin, and powers that be, a lot of hypocrisy. Telling all to follow what the word says, but they do not do it themselves. Priests today are good at that. Do as I say, not as I do. One would think they are supposed to behave more like Jesus as leaders of churches, but today so many behave worse then their parishioners. God gave us Jesus, because of Jesus dying for our sins, all changed, the law and the sacrifice that the Jews had to do was no longer needed, as Jesus died for our sins, since they had him murdered, most behind it all were the high priests sadly. Jesus just wants us to do the right thing. The holy and upright thing, we are called for that! The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord! As stated in the first reading, For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? We do! God gave us Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, He is our example, model of how to live and go about, we are called to be holy people! We must humbly welcome the word that has been planted in us by God and is able to save our souls. What a blessing! Our Father God willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. God's truth will never fail us! We need to stay in Spirit always, with Christ within, always making sure we are thinking and believing good, upright, and holy thoughts and deeds, let all goodness be in our hearts. Be humble in the Lord, making sure we are following, reflecting, and imitating Jesus in all we do on this Earth School journey!  Jesus said, "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." We cannot disregard God's Commandments and we cannot cling to human tradition, we need to live in the Spirit of Christ always! We need to be doers of the word! 

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
Moses said to the people:
"Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin upon you,
you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.'
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?"

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5
R. (1a) The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Whoever walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heart
and slanders not with his tongue.
R. The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
by whom the reprobate is despised,
while he honors those who fear the LORD.
R. The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Who lends not his money at usury
and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
shall never be disturbed.
R. The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.

Reading 2
James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
Dearest brothers and sisters:
All good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
He willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
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, 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.

Alleluia
James 1:18
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
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 summoned the crowd again and said to them,
"Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.
"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."