December 22/Fourth Sunday of Advent
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
One whose hands are clean, whose heart is pure,
who does not lift up his soul to what is empty. ~ Ps 24.3-4
In my small and historic parish church, people tend to dress up for Mass. Men don sport coats and ties, women wear “church dresses” (and the occasional hat), children’s faces are washed and their hair neatly combed or beribboned. Most everyone enters the sanctuary sartorially polished and prepared. But while the tradition of dressing for church certainly contributes to an atmosphere of reverence, it is not what makes us worthy. The psalmist today asks an important question: “Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? or who may stand in his holy place?” What does it mean, in other words, to be a person of faith, a seeker who longs to find God’s presence? The psalmist lays out the criteria clearly and definitively. We must have clean hands, treating all we encounter honestly and compassionately. We must have pure hearts that steer us towards God. And we must offer up our souls — the Hebrew word nefesh actually encompasses our whole being, “the ensoulled body, the embodied soul,” as a former professor of mine eloquently characterized it — to the truth of the one God, abjuring false and empty idols. What qualifies us to be people of God is the cut of our souls, not of our jackets. For as we know from the Old Testament story of the anointing of David, “the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” By all means, let us wash our hands (and those grubby little toddler fists) as we go to the house of the Lord. But before all else, let us keep sight of how we treat God and our neighbor.
Lord of all mercy, Create in me clean hands, a pure heart, and a faithful soul that seeks you every day. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122219.cfm
