Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

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.’

A common understanding in Jesus’ time was the belief that coming into physical contact with certain items, people, and foods would “defile” a person—that is, render them unable to worship God until specific purification rituals had taken place. Jesus, however, rejects this idea. We see this, for example, when he reaches out and touches lepers. Rather, it is what flows out from a disordered human heart that breaks one’s relationship with God.

Jesus is not seeking to condemn us; on the contrary, he is inviting us towards grace. But first, we need to be convinced that we need it. Here, the Doctor of our souls points us not to the external, but to the core from which our actions flow.

At the heart of our identity as human beings there exists a struggle. This is the struggle to which St Paul refers when he says, “what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit” (Galatians 5:17). This is not true of some, but of all. We find within ourselves our brokenness, but even this is a grace, for it leads us to recognise our need for a Saviour—and in Christ, we find one.

When we encounter darkness within our hearts and our brokenness rises to the surface through our thoughts and actions, we should not despair or withdraw from the path of grace. Rather, we should pray: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.”

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