Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) “But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”
REFLECTION
“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him."
In spite of my best efforts I find myself with a long, sad and silent face when I see my past sins, thoughts, words and deeds. Do I really think that because I attend daily Mass or recite my daily prayers, fast and belong to prayer groups that I am a devout person? Many of my actions are earthly and man pleasing. Is my love for God a dress up exterior life for others to see or is it true love and devotion for God?
Trying to put in motion my love for God requires an earnest effort to clean my heart and rid it of evil thoughts, greed, vanity, unchastity, haughtiness, pride, arrogance and sinful ideas . Then am I able to see His light as it shines through the darkness.
Asking God for the grace and virtues needed to transcend and transform my heart into one who willingly, and unabatedly, prays for a life filled not with merely obeying His commandments but doing His Divine Will.
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