Rules May Stifle Growth

𝐅𝐄𝐁. 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐀, 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧 

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝟏 𝐊𝐠𝐬 𝟖:𝟐𝟐-𝟐𝟑, 𝟐𝟕-𝟑𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟖𝟒:𝟑-𝟓, 𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟏 “𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝!”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐊 𝟕:𝟏-𝟏𝟑

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞.” (𝐯.𝟔) 

         As with other organizations, temporal or spiritual, rules are needed to maintain order and set the process moving. However, spiritual movements or organizations must be careful in how it implements the rules that govern their ministries or their community because rules do not a worship of God make.

        This means that while it is necessary for us to have rules, true worship is not bounded by rules but should spring forth from the heart that is in communion with God.

         A Catholic charismatic movement based in Quezon City is currently putting the finishing touches to their 11-storey building in Catanduanes Street. This community has existed over the years with minimal legalistic intervention.

         A community dedicated to Family Life Apostolate that started as an outreach of the Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community has grown into an independent organization and had built their own two-storey evangelization center on a 1,000 square meter lot in an exclusive subdivision in Las Pinas City and this community also existed with just a manual for their operations.

         There are many other spiritual communities that have grown by leaps and bounds, and the amazing thing is that many of these operate with rules and policies that are minimalist to say the least. What I am saying is that while rules are good and at times necessary, we must leave room for the Holy Spirit to move and for us to simply follow where the Spirit is leading us.

         The BLD used to be the biggest charismatic organization hereabouts. Other spiritual communities and parishes were in awe at how the BLD has grown. But splits, disagreements, and personal ambition to occupy leadership positions cut into its organization and today it is no longer talked about the way it was before.

          In addition to these splits and divisions, too much focus on rules and policies are stifling spiritual growth such that the primary purpose of why a spiritual community exists has been forgotten.          

         This was also the case in the time of Jesus and such divergence in the way the ancient religious traditions are to be observed became the subject of a heated debate between Jesus and the Scribes and Pharisees in this Gospel passage. You will recall that the religious leaders have already questioned Jesus for allowing his disciples to pluck the ears of the corn during the Sabbath (𝐌𝐤 𝟐:𝟐𝟑) and now in this passage his disciples ate without going through the ritual of washing their hands (𝐯.𝟐).

         For us to be able to understand what Jesus and the Pharisees are arguing about, we should go into what these rituals are. Initially, the Law refers to the Ten Commandments and the Pentateuch or the first five books of Moses in the Old Testament. The ancient Jews refer to these as the set of moral principles that they have to interpret and apply to how they live their lives.

         But in the 4th and 5th B.C., the Scribes came into the picture and there and then decided to expand, amplify and modified the Law into thousands of rules and regulations to guide the Jews in practically all the aspects of their lives. In fact, these rules and regulations persisted even after the Crucifixion of Jesus and were summarized into a set of principles which is now known as the Mishnah.

         Part of these set of rules was the way the hands are to be washed before eating and to fail to observe this decree was not bad manners but one was deemed unclean in the sight of God and hence an unclean person was subject to the attack of the evil one. To the Scribes, such rules and regulations are the essence of religion and to observe them was to please God and, to break them was to sin.

         So when the Scribes criticized Jesus for allowing his disciples to eat with unclean hands, he responded by quoting from 𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟐𝟗:𝟏𝟑 “𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞.”        

          It was not that Jesus was against traditions, but what he was against was the legalism that the Scribes kept on imposing on the people which were opposed to the commands of God. In effect what Jesus was saying was that we must learn how to discern if traditions, rules and regulations come from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit or from uninspired men.

         There is nothing wrong with Traditions because our Catholic Faith is guided by it and Pope Benedict XVI gave a beautiful catechesis on Catholic Tradition when he said: “𝑾𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆: 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 ‘𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕.’        

          This reality of the divine action of the Holy Spirit within the Church is essential to understanding Catholic Tradition. It is what makes Sacred Tradition something far different than mere human traditions. Through that same action of the Spirit, Catholic Tradition incorporates us into the Communion of the Saints. It ensures the connection “between the experience of the apostolic faith, lived in the original community of the disciples, and the present experience of Christ in his Church.”

         And Pope Benedict XVI concludes: ‘𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅...: “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆,” 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 28:20). Through Catholic Tradition, the Holy Spirit works to bring the grace and truth of Christ into our own lives.

         Indeed, traditions are not bad, but we must know how to qualify traditions or rules. What we must guard against is when rules tend to replace the fruit of our hearts when worshiping God (𝐯.𝟔). We could also be lulled into vain worship if we commit the mistake of putting the rules on the same level as God’s commands (𝐯.𝟕). Such worship may appear to be impressive, but it is empty and worthless for the simple reason that these do not lead us to a communion with God (𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟐:𝟐𝟐-𝟐𝟑).        

          To stress the importance of heeding God’s commands over rules, Jesus gave the example of honoring one's parents (𝐯𝐯.𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟐) as he criticized the tradition of the Scribes that releases a person from his obligation to help his parents by giving to the Temple treasury. What Jesus was saying and which he is still telling us is that Traditions must be subordinate to the Word of God.

         Hence, as Catholics we are enjoined to observe the Traditions of our Church such as our reception of the Sacraments particularly the Holy Eucharist because it gives Jesus an opportunity by which he can continue his salvific mission through us.

         Today’s gospel reading should serve as a reminder for those who exercise leadership in ministries, apostolates and communities and you’d better look for a quiet place to sit with your Bible in hand and try to reflect and listen to what Jesus is saying through this passage. My unsolicited advice is that you’d better do this now before you start losing your members if you haven’t lost them already.

         The biggest turn off to people who are searching for the pure joy that God has promised is when they are confronted with a set of rules and statutes and a leadership that is so rigid that it lacks the flexibility to allow the Holy Spirit to move freely. As Christian disciples we must have a constant awareness of whether we are favoring our rules over the Word of God.

         And just as bad is when rules take priority over the need to help members develop a sound prayer life and especially familiarity and appreciation of the Word of God. At the end of the day, it's the Holy Spirit that guides the church and communities in serving as a bridge between the people and God.

          Rules are necessary but these rules must be subservient to the Word of God which should guide the evangelistic purpose of a community. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘍𝘦𝘣. 10, 2026)