Category: Uncategorized

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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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“Nothing that enters one from outside can defile,” Jesus says, “but the things that come out from within are what defile.”

In Judaism, to be “defiled” meant that a person lost access to the Temple, and therefore access to God. In order to remain pure – or “undefiled” – religious scholars created over 600 commandments that observant Jews needed to follow.

This included everything from the washing of hands and dishes to the treatment of birds. Jesus overrides these commandments and insists upon one thing only:

A pure heart.

“From within a person, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, and greed,” says the Lord. These things sour our relationship with God and with our neighbors.

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The Native Americans believe in a similar idea, stated in a different way.

They say there are two wolves living within each of us. One feeds on negativity – things like selfishness and anger – while the other feeds on positivity – things like hope and love.

The question is: “Which wolf wins?”

The one we feed.

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May we make every effort, in the words of Saint Peter, “to be found without spot or blemish before God.” 

Holy, undefiled, by feeding that good wolf – Christ – within.

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Image credits: (1) Hope 103.2 (2) Chabad.org (3) Apostles of the Interior Life

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Gospel: Mark 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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When I think about Nagasaki, Japan, the first thing that comes to mind is the atomic bomb dropped on it during World War Two, incinerating 37,000 people in a matter of seconds.

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But 350 years earlier, the people of Nagasaki faced another tragedy. The Japanese government was trying to systematically wipe out our faith; Christians were being martyred by the thousands.

The first known group of martyrs included Saint Paul Miki and 25 of his companions, all of whom were crucified on a hill outside of Nagasaki, Japan.

Among them were not only priests…but also the elderly, women, even children.

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Like Jesus, Saint Paul Miki used the cross as his pulpit to preach his final sermon.

These were his parting words: “After Christ’s example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as fruitful rain.”

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The Japanese continued stomping out the Catholic faith until all traces of it were lost.

In fact, missionaries would not return to Japan for another 200 years…But when they did, they discovered that Paul Miki’s prayer had mysteriously come true.

Somehow, thousands of Christians were living quietly in Nagasaki and beyond, reminding us all of a very important truth:

The Church never dies.

In spite of scandal, persecution, or any threat to its mission, the Gospel message never stops converting and saving souls.

It spreads through the daily words and actions of ordinary people like us.

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In answer to Paul’s prayer, how might we continue to share our faith with others today?

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Image credits: (1) RISE Youth, Facebook (2) America Magazine (3) WordsForTheHeart, WordPress

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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.

Before they can blink an eye, however, crowds filled with sick and possessed people are 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? How might you have responded?

Do you think Peter and the others brought people to Jesus? Or, worn out from the last several hours, did they try to whisk Jesus away in order to rest?

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

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

For example, 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 offend 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 someone 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.” 

What might make us feel that pinch of love today?

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Image credits: (1) AZ Quotes (2) Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt (3) LinkedGo Vinyl