Lip service only. Homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.

The interpretative key to understanding what Jesus is saying in today’s gospel can be found in the words that he quotes from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah condemns his contemporaries because their worship is no more than lip service. “This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless, the doctrines they teach are only human regulations. You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.”