Why all this fuss then about washing hands? Back during the pandemic, there
was quite a focus on good hand hygiene. Initially some thought that
Coronavirus spread only through hand contact, but later on it was said that the
most effective way of preventing its spread was wearing a mask; cleaning
hands regularly was much less important. I’ve consulted two biblical
commentaries about today’s Gospel, and they both say that the issue here about
washing hands before meals is not to do with hygiene, but rather religious
ritual. In Exodus 30 Aaron and his sons were directed by the Lord to wash
their hands and feet before entering the Tent of Meeting in the Temple to
perform their priestly duties. Later on the idea was extended to everyone to
wash their hands before eating as a reminder of this, and as a symbol of the
need for interior purification when serving God. Today, in fact, there is
something similar that happens at Mass. At the Offertory, after the priest has
said the Offertory prayers whilst holding up first the bread and then the wine,
he then goes to the side of the altar and washes his fingers as a sign of the
importance of ritual purification before offering the Sacrifice of the Mass in the
Eucharistic Prayer. Whilst he washes his fingers, there is a prayer he is
supposed to say quietly, which goes like this: “Wash me, O Lord, from my
iniquity, and cleanse me of my sin”. Also, at the beginning of Mass, we all take
part in the Penitential Act, as part of getting ourselves ready to celebrate the
Mass: “Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare
ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries”.
So going back to the Gospel, the ritual of purification before offering incense in
the Temple had been extended to washing hands before meals, and it was not
just “a nice idea” but it was now something that everyone was supposed to do.
You can imagine a small girl asking one of the Pharisees the question “why do
we have to do this?” And the answer might have been: because it is tradition.
But the reason behind the tradition had been slightly forgotten. So later on,
Jesus reminds them of the reason for it: our lives need to purified from sin in
order to be a pure offering to the Lord. He lists various serious sins, so if we
are an adult and don’t know what some of the words mean, we need to look
them up and make sure we are not taking part in any of those things. If you are
a child and don’t know what some of those sins are, then you’re probably too
young to do them, so don’t worry about it.
Our Lord doesn’t mince his words with the scribes and Pharisees - He calls
them hypocrites, which means they give the appearance of believing in God,
but the way they live their lives tells a different story. They insist on following
the traditions, and castigate those who don’t follow them, but actually for them
this has all just become an empty ritual. In the second reading St James says
that pure, unspoilt religion, is this: “coming to the help of orphans and widows
when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world”.
Unfortunately, they are very contaminated by the world, which is why in St
Matthew’s Gospel He refers to them as whitewashed tombs, which look
beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all sorts of
corruption (see Matt 23:27-28).
So lastly, in connection with all of this, I would just like to say a word about
going to confession. Receiving Holy Communion is a great privilege and grace
as a Catholic, and we have to make sure that it doesn’t just become routine and
something we do without really thinking about Who it is that we are receiving.
I notice that some people follow the practice of bowing to the Host before they
receive, which is something that the bishops of this country recommend. But
we also need to look into our hearts, and if we find things there that should not
be there, we need to bring them to the Lord in confession, so that our souls may
be washed clean. Sometimes we might even need to do that before we next
receive Holy Communion; in the meantime we can stay in our place or come
up and receive a blessing. One of the things I have found as a priest as the
years have gone by is that there are all sorts of different reasons why people
don’t always receive, sometimes for good reasons and sometimes due to
misunderstanding. It’s important we don’t judge people for what they do or
don’t do, but if you want to ask me a question in confidence then please do ask.
To sum up, it looks today as if Jesus and His disciples are being criticised for
eating with dirty hands, but that would be a bit of a modern misunderstanding.
It was a ritual where the reason for it had been slightly forgotten; Our Lord
reminds them that the purpose was to remind people to keep away from sin, in
imitation of the priest approaching God in the Temple with a pure heart. The
message for us is that we need to aim to be free from all sin, especially serious
sin, and especially when receiving the Most Holy Eucharist.
Curious about exploring things further? If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk