SEPTEMBER 1ST 2024.

TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B.

FIRST READING
“You shall not add to the word which I commanded you…. keep the commandments of the Lord.”
DEUTERONOMY 4: 1 – 2, 6 – 8

Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you. You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. “Keep them and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?”

The Word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 15: 2 – 3a, 3bc – 4ab, 5 (R. 1a

R/. O Lord, who may abide in your tent?

Whoever walks without fault;
who does what is just,
and speaks the truth from his heart.
Who does not slander with his tongue. R/.

Who does no wrong to a neighbour,
who casts no slur on a friend,
who looks with scorn on the wicked,
but honours those who fear the Lord. R/.

Who lends no money at interest,
and accepts no bribes against the innocent.
Such a one shall never be shaken. R/.

SECOND READING
“Be doers of the word.”
JAMES 1: 17 – 18, 21b – 22, 27

My dearest brethren: Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

The Word of the Lord.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
James 1: 18

Alleluia.
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his.
Alleluia.

GOSPEL
“You leave the commandment of God, and holdfast the tradition of men.’’
MARK 7: 1 – 8, 14 – 15, 21 – 23

At that time: When the Pharisees gathered together to Jesus, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders; and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. ’You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.” And he called the people to him again, and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him. “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

*Svondo 1 Gunyana – September;* *Svondo yemakumi maviri neyechipiri yegore – B* *Chiverengo chokutanga: _Kutsinhira Mutemo 4,1-2.6-8_* _Inzwai chiverengo chinobva mubhuku roKutsinhira Mutemo_Mosesi akati kuvanhu, “Imi vaIsiraeri, chinzwai zvino mitemo nemirao yandava kukudzidzisai kuti muichengete, mugorarama. Ndiko kuti muyambuke, mutore nyika yamuri kupiwa naTenzi Mwari wamadzibaba enyu. Musambowedzera zvenyu kana kutapudza chinhu pamitemo yandichakupai. Chengetai mitemo yaTenzi Mwari wenyu yandava kukuudzai. Iteererei muichengete nokuti kwamuri, ndihwo ungwaru nokunzwisisa kune ndudzi dzavanhu vachakuonai. Pavachanzwa mitemo iyoyi vachati, ‘Chokwadi rudzi urwu rudzi rukuru rwavanhu vakangwara, vanonzwisisa.’ Ko, kune rudzi here rukuru runa mwari ari pedyo narwo sezvakaita isu naTenzi Mwari wedu ari pedyo nesu patinomudaidza? Pane rudzi here rukuru rune mitemo nemirao yakarurama sebumbiro rose romutemo randiri kukupai nhasi uno?” *Shoko raTenzi.* *Rwiyo rwokutsinhira:* _Nziyo 15,2-3.4.5. (D – 1)_ *(D) – TENZI ndiani, angagare mutendhe renyu?* 2Munogarwa nomunhu ano upenyu huri pachokwadi, anoita zvakarurama, uye anotaura chokwadi chake chaicho chinobva mumwoyo; 3munhu asingatauri makuhwa norurimi rwake; asingaitiri mumwe wake zvakaipa; asingatauri zvakaipa zvavamwe. *(D) – TENZI ndiani, angagare mutendhe renyu?* 4Munhu anozvidza munhu akashata; asi anoremekedza vanoremekedza TENZI, anochengeta zvaanenge apika kuita, kunyange zvichirwadza. *(D) – TENZI ndiani, angagare mutendhe renyu?* Anokweretesa asingati akwereta ngaaise imwe mari pamusoro payo, kana kutambira chioko muhomwe chokurwisa munhu asina mhosva. Munhu anoita zvakadai haatsukunyiki. *(D) – TENZI ndiani, angagare mutendhe renyu?* *Chiverengo chechipiri: _Jemusi 1,17-18.21b-22.27_* _Inzwai chiverengo chinobva mutsamba yaJemusi_ Hama, chinhu chose chine munhu chakanaka, nechipo chose chakaruramisisa chinobva kudenga kuna Baba vezviedza vasina mupindu kana mumvuri zvawo wokusanduka. Nokuda kwake akatibereka neshoko rechokwadi kuti tive semichero yokutanga yezvisikwa zvake. Mugamuchire makazvidukupisa shoko rakadyarwa mamuri rinokwanisa kuponesa mweya yenyu. Naizvozvo, ivai vaiti vezvinorehwa neshoko kwete vanzwi chete muchizvinyengedza. Unamati hwakanyatsoti tsvikiti husina kusvibiswa pamberi paMwari naBaba, ndohuhu: kushanyira nherera nechirikadzi munhamo dzadzo, uye kuzvibata usingasvibiswi nenyika. *Shoko raTenzi.* *Kupemberera Shoko Rakanaka:* _Jemusi 1,18_ *Areruya, Areruya.* Nokuda kwake akatibereka neshoko rechokwadi kuti tive semichero yokutanga yezvisikwa zvake. *Areruya.* *Shoko Rakanaka:_Mariko 7,1-8.14-15.21-23_* _Inzwai Shoko Rakanaka rakanyorwa naMariko_ VaFarisei pamwechete nedzimwe nyanzvi dzoMutemo dzakanga dzabva kuJerusaremu, vakaona kuti vamwe vavadzidzi vaJesu vaidya chingwa namaoko ane tsvina, zvinoreva kuti, asina kushambwa. Nokuti vaFarisei navaJudha vose havadyi chinhu vasina kunyatsoshamba maoko avo, vachitevedza magamuchidzanwa etsika dzamadzitateguru avo, nokuti kana vachinge vabva kumusika, havambodya chinhu vasina kushamba. Dziripo dzimwe tsika zhinji dzavakatora kumadzitateguru avo dzavanochengeta sokuti kusuka komichi, nehari, nemidziyo yekopa nemibhedha. Ipapo vaFarisei nenyanzvi dzoMutemo vakabvu￾nza Jesu vachiti, “Ko, vadzidzi venyu vanoregererei kuchengeta tsika dzamagamuchidzanwa dzamadzitateguru, zvavanodyazve chingwa namaoko ane tsvina?” Akavapindura achiti, “Inga muporofita Isaya akataura chokwadi nezvenyu, imi vanyengedzi, sokunyorwa kwazvakaitwa zvichinzi: ‘Vanhu ava vanondikudza zvapamuromo chete, asi mwoyo yavo iri kure neni. Kundinamata kwavo ndokwonhando, nokuti vanodzidzisa sechokwadi chaicho, zvinhu zvakatemwa zvazvo navanhu.’ Munokanda pasi murao waMwari, kuti muti dzvemere namagamuchidzanwa etsika dzavanhu.” Akadaidza zvakare chita chavanhu ndokuti kwa￾vari, “Nditeererei munzwe mose munzwisise. Hapana chinhu chinobva kunze kwomunhu chichipinda maari chinogona kumun’oresa, asi zvinobva mumunhu ndizvo zvinomun’oresa. Imomo mumwoyo yavanhu, ndimo munobva pfungwa dzakaipa, nounzenza, nokuba, nokuuraya, noupombwe, noruchiva, nomwoyo wakaipa, nounyengedzi, nokusazvibata, neshanje, nokushonha Mwari, nokuzvikudza noupenzi. Zvakaipa zvose izvi zvinobva mukati, uye zvinon’oresa munhu.” *Shoko Rakanaka raTenzi.

*GOSPEL REFLECTION: Rejecting False Accusations*_September 1, 2024__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. (Mark 7:1–2)_What a foolish thing for these Pharisees and scribes to be concerned about! They were in the presence of the Son of God, the Savior of the World, a man of perfect virtue and pure goodness, and all they could do was to observe that some of Jesus’ disciples failed to follow the scrupulous teaching on how they should wash their hands before a meal. The reason for this was their pride. These teachers of Israel had devised a large body of detailed, unwritten, human laws that they treated with the same binding force as the Law of Moses that they received from God. But the scribes’ and Pharisees’ human traditions were not from God; they were a body of regulations flowing from their own self-righteous need to act as interpreters of the Law. Therefore, whenever someone failed to follow the traditions the Pharisees and scribes taught as binding, they took it personally and reacted with judgment.One lesson we can learn from these religious leaders is that we should never take things personally. Allowing ourselves to become personally offended at anything at all is, in fact, an act of our own pride. We do need to have sorrow for the sin we see, but that is different than allowing ourselves to become personally offended. For example, even if we were to teach the very Law of God and someone rejects that teaching, our response must be sorrow for them as we reject their error.Jesus went on to respond to the Pharisees and scribes by quoting to them the Prophet Isaiah: “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” (See Isaiah 29:13). What’s interesting is that Jesus didn’t really engage them in conversation about this, defending Himself or His disciples in their eyes. Instead, He rebuked the Pharisees and scribes in a general way so as to dismiss their criticism as false, and then turned away from them and addressed the crowds.We will all experience unjust condemnation at times. If we are in the wrong, then we must receive the condemnation as if it were from God and repent. But if the condemnation flows from someone’s wounded pride or error, then Jesus set the example on how we ought to respond. The best response is to reject their error and then refuse to become engaged in the conversation further. Too often when we are criticized unjustly, we also take it personally. We tend to fight back and justify ourselves, trying to prove that the other person is wrong. But when we do that, we are most likely acting out of our own wounded pride. This will result in angry sulking feelings and the experience of oppression that the evil one inflicts upon us. Jesus’ model is to reject the lie and then refuse to engage it further. The reason for this is that the unjust condemnation is actually the seed of the evil one. The person delivering it is only the instrument. So we rebuke the lie of the evil one and refuse to get into a personal battle with the person delivering the lie. Doing so brings freedom from oppression and allows our hearts to remain at peace, no matter what we endure.https://youtu.be/wO5WkeLgK_s?si=CyfIT5CEevzqUfi1*Reflect,* today, upon any ways that you have taken some conversation personally, allowing it to oppress you with anger, becoming defensive or argumentative. Know that whenever that happens, this is an attack from the evil one as he seeks to oppress you. Do not accept that abuse. The guide for each of us is the peace and joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. Even the greatest martyrs remained at peace and felt joy in the midst of their persecution. Reflect upon any ways that you have allowed the evil one to agitate you and leave you upset with your wounded pride. Do not fall into his trap. Hold on to the truth and remain at peace, and that will be all the defense you need to make.*PRAYER:*_My persecuted Lord, You endured much criticism in life, but You never allowed it to steal Your peace. You remained perfectly strong, rejecting the lies and turning from them. Please give me the grace I need to always turn away from the lies of the evil one and to listen only to Your clear and gentle voice. Jesus, I trust in You.