Gospel (Mk 7,1-13) - At that time, the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. Having seen that some of his disciples took food with impure, that is, unwashed hands - in fact the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they have washed their hands carefully, following the tradition of the ancients and, returning from the market, they do not eat without having performed ablutions, and observe many other things by tradition, such as washing glasses, dishes, copper objects and beds -, those Pharisees and scribes questioned him: «Why do your disciples not behave according to the tradition of the ancients, but do they take food with unclean hands?”. And he answered them: «Isaiah prophesied well about you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines that are precepts of men." By neglecting the commandment of God, you observe the tradition of men." And he said to them: «You are truly clever in rejecting the commandment of God to observe your tradition. Moses in fact said: “Honor your father and your mother”, and: “Whoever curses his father or mother must be put to death”. Instead you say: “If someone declares to his father or mother: What I should help you with is korban, that is, offering to God”, you do not allow him to do anything more for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God with the tradition that you have handed down. And you do a lot of similar things."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

This evangelical passage reports a controversy in which Jesus comes into conflict with the Pharisees and scribes regarding the laws of ritual purity. The Pharisees were members of a religious group that gave great value to the "tradition of the ancients" which they placed on the same level as the Law of Moses. Therefore those who did not observe them were designated as "people who do not know the Law" (Jn 7.49) and despised as transgressors of the covenant with God. To respond to this legalistic religious attitude, devoid of love, Jesus quotes Isaiah who he condemns an external cult devoid of feelings of mercy: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." And then he clearly tells them: "You are truly skilled in rejecting God's commandment to observe your tradition." Jesus uses the singular, probably referring to the great and unique commandment of love of God and neighbor. And with a particularly crude example he shows them how human precept can lead to the transgression of the divine commandment. And he takes the example of the corbàn, that is, a gift given to God that should never have been taken away from the temple. But - says Jesus - if this gift is necessary to help the father or mother who is in need, it can be taken away to comply with the commandment to honor the father and mother. This is the way to observe God's Law, not the observance of heartless rules. It is not enough to scrupulously observe the Law if one does not cultivate the heart with prayer, with listening to the Word of God, with participation in the life of the Church, with encounters with the poor.