outside can make that person unclean. It is what comes from within that makes a person
unclean. Let everyone who has ears listen.” When Jesus got home and was away from
the crowd, his disciples asked him about this saying, and he replied, “So even you are
dull? Do you not see that whatever comes from outside cannot make a person unclean,
since it enters not the heart but the stomach, and is finally passed out?” Thus, Jesus
declared that all foods are clean. And he went on, “What comes out of a person is what
defiles him, for evil designs come out of the heart: theft, murder, adultery, jealousy, greed,
maliciousness, deceit, indecency, slander, pride and folly. All these evil things come from
within and make a person unclean.”
Reflect
“Purity of heart.” What may blur our vision and impede our capacity to practice acts of
loving-kindness are the negative things we carry within us such as jealousy, anger, greed
and deceit – to mention a few. Unless we let go of these negativities, we will always find
it difficult to build on what is good in us and in others. Jealousy, for example, will hinder
us from seeing the gifts God has given us and would keep us wanting to have what God
has given to others. It will keep us away from self-acceptance and destroy the
relationships we have. A distorted self-understanding breeds a distorted character. Hence,
the character of a person is built depending on what is being cultivated from within.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus exhorts the people to be mindful of what really defiles a person.
What makes a person unclean is not what one eats but what one harbors in one’s own
heart. With this, Jesus invites us to look intently on what is inside our hearts. This invitation
is a summons to purity of heart. The purer our hearts are, the farther we can go out of our
comfort zones in order to be of service to others.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2024