Sunday between 28 August and 3 September
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
First Reading - Deuteronomy 4.1a,6-8
A reading from the book of Deuteronomy.
When you observe
the commandments and teachings
of the Lord our God,
that I have set before you
this day,
other nations will hear of them, and say,
“This is truly a people
of great wisdom
and understanding!”
For no other nation
can call upon
a god who is near to them
like the Lord our God.
And no other nation
has commandments and teachings
to establish justice
and righteousness
like the commandments and teachings
of the Lord our God.
This is the word of the Lord.
Second Reading - James 1.19-27
A reading from the letter of James.
Let everyone be quick to listen,
and slow to speak.
Especially, be slow to anger,
for your anger
does not produce
God’s righteousness.
Cleanse yourselves
from all wickedness,
and welcome with humility
the word of God
that is planted in your heart,
for it has the power
to save your soul.
Be doers of the word,
and not merely hearers, who deceive themselves.
Those who are hearers of the word, and not doers -
it is as though they look at themselves in a mirror,
and as soon as they turn away,
forget what they have seen.
But those who look into the perfect law -
the law that brings freedom -
and do not forget it, but act upon it -
they will be blessed in all that they do.
In the same way,
if you consider yourself religious,
but do not control your tongue,
your religion is worthless.
The religion that is acceptable
to God, the Father, is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their distress,
and to keep yourself
from being corrupted
by the world.
This is the word of the Lord.
Gospel - Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to Mark.
When some Pharisees and scribes
came from Jerusalem
to see Jesus,
they noticed that some of his disciples
did not observe
the ceremonial cleansing of hands
before eating;
for the Pharisees,
and all who keep the Hebrew law
in the tradition of the elders,
always observe
the ceremonial cleansing of hands
before eating;
and after visiting the market;
and there are many other traditions
that they observe,
including the ceremonial cleansing
of vessels, and furniture.
So the Pharisees and the scribes
asked Jesus, ‘Why do your disciples
not live
according to the tradition of the elders,
but eat
without the ceremonial cleansing
of their hands?’
Jesus said to them, ‘You hypocrites.
You hold to your human traditions
while neglecting
the commandments of God.
As it says in Isaiah, “They honour me
with their lips, but their hearts
are far from me;
their worship is in vain,
for their teachings
are their own creation.”’
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
‘There is nothing outside a person,
that by going in, can defile;
but the things that come out
are what defile.
For it is from within -
from the human heart -
that evil intentions come:
sexual immorality,
theft, and murder,
greed, and malice,
deceit, and recklessness,
envy, and slander,
arrogance, and foolishness.
All these
evil things
come
from within -
and they
are what
defile.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.