Make Void
Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family
Mark 7:1-13 - 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 went on to say, “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and Whoever curses father or mother shall die. Yet you say, ‘If someone says to father or mother, “Any support you might have had from me is qorban”’ (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.”
(Parent) Reread this part a few times aloud
“You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.”
(Parent) Read this meditation aloud to the family
It is a good thing to have good traditions. We all have many of these. But there is such a thing as poor, or even bad traditions. This is why it is not okay just to accept something because “well, it’s a tradition, and we’ve always done it this way.” This false idea, of course, badly hurts many people in fraternities, sororities, bachelor and bachelorette parties, at 21st birthdays, in Las Vegas, in celebrating Mardi Gras, New Year’s, etc. But we must be careful of other traditions as well—less obvious ones—that poorly affect our faith. These happen in our families and even in our parish.
We must be careful that our traditions are in line with the word of God, as Jesus says. Take, for example, our holidays and Sundays: does our family pray more on Christmas, or less (because of our schedule); does our family slow down on Sundays, or is it a time of busyness (because there are errands to run and sports leagues to attend); does our parish do Easter egg hunts on Holy Saturday, or wait until after Easter? We need to be very intentional. Start with Sundays and Holy Days (especially Holy Week through Easter)—what is one thing more (or less) we could do build up good traditions— traditions based less on “what we always do” and more intentionally on God’s word?
As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)
Reminder for Parents: Pier is just meant to be a jumping off point. The real goal is that you pray & eventually use the fruits of your personal prayer as the content of your family’s prayer. Duc in altum.
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