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A Heart to Love Thee





A Heart to Love Thee
Mk 7: 1- 8, 14 – 15, 21 – 23
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Introduction
The reading today tells us how some Pharisees and scribes noticed how Jesus’ disciples failed to follow some traditions regarding ritual cleanliness. This included the washing of hands, plates and cups among other things. Jesus rebukes them, saying that the failure to observe such rituals was not the source of man’s uncleanliness.

The Gospel
Our Gospel today speaks of how some of Jesus’ detractors, particularly the  Pharisees and some scribes noticed how Jesus’ disciples failed to follow some traditions regarding ritual cleanliness. They were referring particularly to those rituals that were to be observed before eating meals such as the washing of hands. They saw how the disciples ate a meal with unclean hands.
The Jews were particular about the observance of these rituals. The gospel speaks of how observant the Jews were and speaks of this meticulous adherence to the law: “ On coming from the marketplace, they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.”
We must understand that washing our hands before a meal is for us, nowadays, a matter of proper hygiene. In Jesus’ time, it was more than a matter of proper hygiene. In Jesus’ time, cleanliness was very much associated with God himself and his holiness. Uncleanliness, on the other hand was associated with what was ungodly, unholy and defiled. In fact, one can be considered unclean and defiled simply by touching anything that was thought to be unclean. One can also be unclean simply by associating oneself with people who were considered unclean, such as lepers.
The disciples who were seen eating a meal without washing their hands certainly were considered unclean; in doing so they were looked upon as defiled and unworthy.
But Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and scribes, saying: “ Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites.” Then Jesus quotes Isaiah, saying: “ This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.”
Jesus then declares: “ Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. Jesus then enumerates all sorts of sins to elaborate his point: “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy blasphemy, arrogance, folly. “

Reflection
            Jesus tells us that it is not what is external that makes us unclean. It is what is in our heart that makes us unclean. The Pharisees and scribes believed that by eating with unclean hands, one becomes defiled and unclean. Jesus instead says that it is really what is in the depths of the human heart which makes one unclean.
The human heart is inclined and capable of harboring and desiring all sorts of sins such as those mentioned by Jesus. For Jesus, what defiles one is the evil that one keeps inside one’s heart.
            Jesus knows the human heart too well. He knows its secrets. He alone knows what it keeps inside.  He knows its inclinations. He knows that our hearts have been so much wounded and weakened and that making a choice that is good and selfless becomes a daily struggle for most of us.
Jesus knows that our hearts are divided. Even in loving God, we fail too often to love God with an undivided heart; hence our inclination to what is sinful.
Our reading exposes the reality of the human heart’s inner recesses and what it is capable of. It exposes the inclinations of the human heart in a way that  Jesus alone can do. Jesus knows us through and through; he knows our weaknesses, our failures, our motives and intentions; he even knows how well we can deceive ourselves into believing that we can do no wrong.  
Let us ask Jesus to transform our heart and ask him to create in us a pure heart; a heart that is inclined to his will.
Give us a heart to love Thee O Lord above everything else. Amen.



“ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. “    
- Psalm 51: 10



           


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