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Weekday
1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30
Psalm 84:3, 4, 5 and 10, 11
Mark 7:1-13
Summary
In the gospel the Pharisees question Jesus: ˈWhy do your disciples not follow the
tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?ˉ
Reflection
This gospel comes to life for me as I sit in a jury assembly room waiting to be
called for a jury panel. Serving my annual duty as a citizen I received a summons
to present myself on this day at this time to meet my civic obligation. We are all
govern by laws; those of man, those of nature; those of God. Most of these laws
are good and make sense and by obeying them we are protected as we protect
others. But sitting here in the jury assembly room my mind wonders to what kind
of a case will be presented and how will I evaluate the evidence and how will I
apply the law.
For a number of years I was a basketball referee and it was my job to observe the
play and determine if any infractions of the rules took place. But there was more
to the job than just applying the rule; I needed to determine if the act or action
affected the player or the game in some adverse manner. If so then it was
deemed an infraction and some corrective measure was to be applied. In order to
do this job well basketball officials
have to first know the rule, but they
also have to understand the intent of
the rule and finally they have to de-
termine what the appropriate action
is.
These two situations: jury duty and
basketball officiating are two cir-
cumstances where I am called upon