Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Mark 7:14-23

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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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We continue with the lengthy confrontation between Jesus and the religious authorities, started in yesterday’s Gospel.

In the middle of this debate, the Lord argues, “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile, but the things that come out from within are what defile.” 

This single phrase turned Judaism on its head. For Jews, to be “defiled” meant a person lost access to the Temple, and thus access to God. Being ritually pure was essential to their identity as God’s people. 

In order to ensure their purity, religious scholars created over 600 commandments for people to follow, including everything from the washing of hands and dishes to the treatment of birds.

But Jesus insists only one thing was necessary in order to have access to God – a pure heart.

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The Native Americans have a similar idea, told through the story of two wolves, which they say are living inside each of us. One wolf feeds on negative things like selfishness and greed, while the other wolf feeds on virtues like faith, hope, and love. 

The question each person must answer is, “Which wolf wins?”

The one feed.

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This upcoming season of Lent provides us with the opportunity to consider, how pure is my heart? In what ways do I feed that good wolf within? Do I ever feed the bad wolf?

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May the Lord give us the grace to feed that good wolf, increasing the purity of our hearts, so we may have what we all seek – access to God.

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Image credits: (1) Medium (2) iStock (3) Etsy

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Gospel: Mk. 7: 1-13

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
And 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.)
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
“Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” 
He responded,
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,
as it is written:

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.

You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
He went on to say,
“How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition!
For Moses said,
Honor your father and your mother,
and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.
Yet you say,
‘If someone says to father or mother,
“Any support you might have had from me is qorban”‘
(meaning, dedicated to God),
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God
in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things.” 

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today’s Gospel passage sets the stage for a lengthy confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day. 

The religious leaders are convinced that following the external laws and rituals handed down to them from their ancestors are what make them God’s chosen people. 

But Jesus challenges this deep-seeded belief, claiming that God’s favor does not come through handwashing or Sabbath keeping; rather, through purity of heart. As the Psalmist cries out, “Create a clean heart in me, O GOD, renew in me a steadfast spirit.”

Handwashing and Sabbath keeping are fruitless exercises if they are not done with love.

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While this legal back-and-forth may sound trivial to us today, there is still a real challenge imbedded within it. 

The Lord is calling us to see beneath our own religious practices, such as attending Mass, reading scripture, and praying the rosary, and to examine our moral purity. As Jesus says elsewhere, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Perfection in this sense does not necessarily imply being without sin. Perfection is about the journey. The striving. The effort it takes to reach spiritual maturity; moral clarity; wisdom; ultimately, allowing Christ to live in us and to love others through us.

When I examine my own heart, do I lack moral clarity? Do I ever fall short of perfection?

Most importantly, do I do my best each day to allow Jesus to make his dwelling within me?

Perhaps such questions provide a pathway for us as we prepare for Lent.

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For this is how we find our way to perfection. Not by ridding ourselves of sin per se, but by opening ourselves to the presence of Christ so that we may be his voice, his hands, his feet, his beating heart in this world.

Create a clean heart in me, O GOD, renew in me a steadfast spirit.

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Image credits: (1) Sermons by Chris Goringe (2) Ritual Well (3) One Walk I With Jesus

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Gospel: Mark 6: 53-56

After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country 
and began to bring in the sick on mats
to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today’s Gospel takes place immediately after the disciples spend the entire night in a harrowing storm, crossing the Sea of Galilee without Jesus. 

Frazzled and relieved, they are now safely ashore. I’m sure all Peter and the others wanted to do was pause and take a nice, long nap.

But before they could blink an eye, crowds filled with the sick and suffering are already pressing in on them, hoping just to touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak. 

How do you think these drowsy disciples responded to the sight of the crowds?

Worn out from the last several hours of stumbling in the dark like drunken fishermen, did they try to whisk Jesus away in order to take their rest? Or did they ignore their own exhaustion in order to help others in need?

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The Gospel doesn’t tell us how they responded, only that Jesus healed every person he touched.

What a difference it would make if we all followed the Lord’s example of patience, compassion, and generosity, in spite of how we might be feeling at any given moment.

Imagine the difference it’d make if we were patient with other drivers on the road, even while in a hurry ourselves. Or the difference it’d make in our hearts if we readily forgave people who offended us.

If we took the time to listen to our neighbor, even while preoccupied with our own thoughts; if we did the chores; made dinner; or responded to other people’s needs without complaint.

Or, in the disciples’ case, the difference it might’ve made if they brought just one person to Jesus, in spite of their own exhaustion.

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As Mother Teresa once said, “Christians are called to love until it hurts.” 

How might we feel that loving pinch today?

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Image credits: (1) Forbes (2) Christ Healing the Sick, Worcester Art Museum(3) Resurrection Greek Orthodox Church