February 10, 2010
Memorial of Saint Scholastica, virgin
He 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." …But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. 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." Mark 7:14-15, 20-23
Piety
Commit your way to the LORD; trust that God will act and make your integrity shine like the dawn, your vindication like noonday. Be still before the LORD; wait for God. Psalm 37:5-7
Study
Jesus is at his best when he is stirring up anxiety among his followers by challenging the status quo. Much of Mosaic Law familiar to his audience dealt with which foods people can eat. However, Jesus throws out any concern over food. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person. These foods are created by God and nothing that is of God’s making can defile a person.
Jesus then tells people to look inward… From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts. So rather than any obsession with following strict dietary law, Jesus wants people to create within themselves a clean heart absence of these evil thoughts.
Imagine the look on their faces when he said this. Even the disciples can not believe it and ask for further explanation when they are alone with Jesus.
After stirring up this new debate among his people, Jesus retreats back out to Tyre and Sidon where his teachings are more accepted. The notes to the New American Bible remind us that these districts provided a Gentile setting for the extension of his ministry of healing because the people there acknowledged his power.
Action
Jesus is not content with changing water into wine and healing the sick and expelling demons. He wants to heal all of our hearts as well. We may not be guilty of murder, adultery or many of the other interior thoughts Jesus enumerates in this exchange. However, what are the interior thoughts that defile us? How can we work on changing those thoughts? Try to identify one thought and see how you can rid yourself of that over the next 30 days.
