February 10, 2021

St. Scholastica

Mk 7: 14-23

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

 

St. Scholastica

Mk 7: 14-23 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.  

Take stock of our hearts

Jesus is speaking in no uncertain terms today. It’s what we hold in our hearts that gets us into trouble. The first few items make me confident that I can breeze through the list. Murder- nope.   Adultery-nope. Fornication-nope. Theft- not really. But hold on a minute, Jesus. You mention avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly…  uh oh. Some of these I can begin to relate to. For each of us, the “evil intention” that strikes a chord in our own hearts will be different.  Our bodies aren’t defiled by what we literally put into them...but our hearts can grow full of these things we harbor, (a.k.a. sins) - things that eventually can harden our hearts and harm those around us.  In the second week of the Spiritual Exercises, we are called to look at ourselves closely.  Lent will be here soon, and this is a good time to begin to take an honest appraisal of the things we’re holding inside and bring them humbly to our loving God.  —Donna K. Becher, M.S., is an associate spiritual director at the West Virginia Institute for Spirituality in Charleston, West Virginia.  Her training is rooted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.  

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You chose to be called the friend of sinners.
By your saving death and resurrection free me from my sins.
May your peace take root in my heart
and bring forth a harvest of love, holiness, and truth.

—#90 Rite of Penance of the Roman Catholic Church. English translation published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2010.

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