Reflection for Tuesday, February 10: Be Intentional

Mass Readings: Genesis 1:20-2:4a/Mark 7:1-13

We love our traditions. Traditions mark important events in our individual and communal lives. But what happens when rituals or traditions become the focal point and not the meaning or intention behind them?

Hand washing and dedicating one’s assets to God may have had legitimate meaningful origins, but they became the focal point, an end in themselves. If some of our religious practices have become lifeless it is probably because we have forgotten the intention behind them. Imagine Mass with all its ritual but no Jesus. If we abstain from meat on Friday during Lent by eating lobster we have missed the point. Love of God and neighbor, gratitude for God’s mercy, solidarity with the poor—these are the intentions that animate our rituals and traditions. Without the proper intention they are truly lifeless.

Prayer: Lord, help us to be intentional in following you.