are you also without understanding

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17 Psalm 104:1-2, 27-30 Mark 7:14-23

Mark 7:18  And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him,

Even today this is still a problem for us.  We look at what we do on the outside and not what we are on the inside.  This can be seen clearly in church denominationalism,  We argue about what traditions we must honor and which ones we should not, but we are blind to our own motives of pride, fear, and jealousy.  We must first remove the plan from our own eye to see clearly what is going on elsewhere.

A simple example could be is driving a car I hit someone and kill them.  Was it purely and accident that could not be avoided?  Was I negligent, speeding perhaps? Was I drunk?  Was I spontaneously enraged because someone had the nerve to step in front of me?  Or was I intentionally trying to hit that person?  No matter the reason the person is dead, but the punishment will depend on why I hit them.  The motive.  It is what comes from inside that makes the difference, that defiles a man.

Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to always check my motives and that they may be pure and with intent to glorify you.

Amen