discipline – deacon rudy's notes

Welcome back for another edition of deacon rudy’s notes! I’m Deacon Rudy Villarreal, and together we’re going to break open the Word!

Today I’d like to share some thoughts about our Gospel from this past weekend. We heard excerpts from the Gospel according to Mark Chapter 7. Some Pharisees and scribes confronted Jesus wanting to know why his disciples were not following the letter of the Jewish discipline concerning washing hands.

Jesus quotes Isaiah saying, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…” (Mark 7:6). He goes on to say that the people, “…disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” (Mark 7:8)

Now, this is a really interesting place to pause. You see, our Protestant brothers and sisters or even those who stand outside the Church might accuse Catholics of sharing this in common with the Pharisees and scribes. We cling to traditions and customs and lose sight of God’s commandment.

Well, to the uninformed, I guess it would be easy to jump to that conclusion. But nothing could be further from the truth. You see, Catholics do not believe in and teach rules and regulations or disciplines for the sake of our traditions.

Let’s walk through that for just a minute.

We Catholics are disciples of Christ Jesus. As disciples, we observe certain disciplines. Some of these disciplines are from Scripture. Some of these disciplines come from Tradition – both capital “T” and lower case “t” traditions. Some of our disciplines come from our doctrine or our teachings based on Scripture and Tradition.

Ok, but why bother with any sort of discipline at all? Ok, it’s time for a brief lesson in Latin. Full disclosure: I don’t speak Latin. Well, according to The German Etymological Dictionary (Kluge 23rd edition, 1999), the word “discipline” comes from the Latin disciplina. Disciplina comes from the Latin word discipulus or disciple. It also means student. The root of discipulus is discipere which means “to learn.” <1>

If the root of “discipline” is “to learn,” then our Catholic disciplines are designed to teach us about our faith in God, in Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit. This is really important to remember because sometimes our family and friends can get really hung up on a particular “rule” in the Church and question why something has changed or why something hasn’t changed. Instead of questioning the legitimacy of a change, we should ask ourselves, “What fruit would that change produce? Will that change help us learn more about our faith?”

A great example is the Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent. Now, we don’t do that so that we can over-indulge in decadent seafood that we would not normally eat. The fruit of the disciple of self-denial is to help us focus on everything but our bellies. Is the way we live our lives consistent with our professed faith in Christ Jesus? But this practice was not just limited to the Fridays during Lent, but all Fridays.

In 1966, the bishops of the United States allowed Catholics to seek alternative forms of penance on Fridays because meat had become fairly common in American culture. Now I didn’t know this, but even though the bishops at that time allowed for alternative forms of penance – by the way, I didn’t know that either that we are supposed to do some kind of penance every single Friday of the year. But even though the bishops at that time allowed for alternative forms of penance they continued to recommend that Catholics should continue to abstain from meat on Fridays throughout the entire liturgical year. <2>

I didn’t know that. There are some suggesting we should return to this discipline of austerity on all Fridays to stand against our consumerist culture and to help shine the light of Christ on how our excesses contribute to the problems in our country and of course to help us focus our attention on Jesus Christ. What an interesting idea, don’t you think?

That’s one example of a discipline whose purpose is to teach us and by proxy all those around us. So, don’t fall into the trap of parroting Church disciplines. Try to understand them and their impact on your faith life and the faith life of our family and friends.

Homework! Nourished by the Word of God and the Eucharist, I invite you to reflect on the following two questions.
First, what disciplines of our Church do you find helpful to you in your faith life?
Second, how can you help other people appreciate the value of discipline?

I think doing our homework will help us be the intentional disciples we are called to be! Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

You’re listening to deacon rudy’s notes. Thank you for joining me today. Our theme music was composed by Silent Partner. You can find all sorts of helpful information on the website at www.deaconrudysnotes.org. I’m Deacon Rudy Villarreal. Join me again next weekend as we break open the Word. Peace!

Image: DISCIPLINE. Artist Unknown. JPEG.

Notes:
<1> https://latin.stackexchange.com/questions/126/on-the-etymology-of-discipulus-and-disciplina
<2> https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/08/23/climate-change-meatless-fridays-catholic-241270

Bibliography/Suggested Readings:
1. Anderson, Kelly and Daniel Keating. James, First, Second, and Third John. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2017. Kindle.
2. Healy, Mary. The Gospel of Mark. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2008. Kindle.
3. Montague, George T. SM. Mark: A Popular Commentary on the Earliest Gospel. Steubenville, Ohio: Franciscan University Press, 1992.

Catechism References http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm:
1. Divine providence: 302-8
2. Jesus and Israel: 574-82
3. Jesus and the law: 577-82
4. Imitation of Christ: 1693-96
5. Human freedom: 1731-33
6. Conscience: 1776-77
7. Capital sins: 1866
8. The Old Law and the Gospel: 1961-74
9. Christian holiness: 2012-16
10. The heart: 2517-19, 2563
11. Purity: 2520

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082921.cfm
Lectionary: 125

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 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.”

Tag: discipline

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

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