Sunday, Sept. 1, is the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Mass readings: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; Psalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5; James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23.

Today’s readings all regard the Law. Let’s look at four teachings that come from them.

The first reading text says, “Moses said to the people: ‘Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord … is giving you.’” So, the Law comes with a promise. It is the basis of life and the doorway to the further blessings of the land. Many today see God’s Law as a limitation on our freedom to “do as we please.” The Law of God does not imprison; it is a defense. Every ancient city had walls, not to imprison its citizens but to protect them from the enemy. Within the walls there was security and the promise of protection. Outside the walls lurked danger; there was no promise of safety there. It is like this with God’s Laws.

Regarding the Law of God, Moses says, “In your observance of the commandments of the Lord … you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.” We might liken the Law to a set of directions to get to a designated destination. Compliance must be complete to bring us to the right place when driving. Similarly, we are directed to follow the Law of God wholly. Here, we must see God as a healer who is exacting and precise, not for his sake but for ours. God, who is our healer, points to full health.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus rebukes the Scribes and Pharisees. He tells them, “[You] teach as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” Now, as then, many people set aside the priority of God’s Law in favor of human thinking.

Today, many Catholics are more passionate about their political views than about God’s teachings as revealed through Scripture and Church teaching. If there is a conflict between what God teaches and the political party’s view, guess which gets unquestioning allegiance.

But God should have our full allegiance. The Lord Jesus goes on to say, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me.’”

The Lord also says, “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

It is not enough to have a cursory and intellectual awareness of the Law; it must move from our intellect to our heart. The heart is the deepest part of the human person, the place where we are alone with our thoughts and deliberations. The heart is the place where we discern, ponder and ultimately decide. It is here that the Law of God must find a home.

If we give the Law priority and observe it precisely, many blessings will be ours.