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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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The upcoming season of Lent provides us with the opportunity to consider, how do I feed that good wolf within? In what ways do I feed the bad wolf?
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May the Lord give us the grace to feed the good wolf within, and in so doing, to offer him a heart that is holy and blameless in his sight.
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Image credits: (1) Medium (2) iStock (3) Etsy