First reading Genesis 2:4-9,15-17
The Lord God fashioned man out of dust
At the time when the Lord God made earth and heaven there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any wild plant yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was there any man to till the soil. However, a flood was rising from the earth and watering all the surface of the soil. The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. The Lord God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. The Lord God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it. Then the Lord God gave the man this admonition, ‘You may eat indeed of all the trees in the garden. Nevertheless of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die.’
Responsorial Psalm 103(104):1-2,27-30
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in light as in a robe!
Bless the Lord, my soul!
All of these look to you
to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up:
you open your hand, they have their fill.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
You take back your spirit, they die,
returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Gospel Mark 7:14-23
It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean
Jesus called the people to him and said, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’
When he had gone back into the house, away from the crowd, his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Do you not understand either? Can you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean, because it does not go into his heart but through his stomach and passes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he pronounced all foods clean.) And he went on, ‘It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’
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Purity of heart
“More than all else, keep watch over your heart since here are the wellsprings of life.” (Proverb 4:23) The heart is the core of a person; it is the wellspring of life and death. In the Bible, the heart and the mind are united, and it is where our thoughts shape our lives.
When somebody hurts us, we have the choice of how to respond. We can either look at the situation objectively, finding peace within ourselves by offering our pain and anger to God the pain, or we can choose to hold onto resentment. This often leads us to fixate on the person who wronged us, producing anger and unforgiveness in our hearts. Pride, anger, envy, unforgiveness, etc., can cause significant harm to ourselves, often without realizing that we are the ones who will ultimately face the consequences of our choices. Through this gospel, Jesus invites us to be aware of the thoughts we allow to enter to take root in our minds and hearts, as the seeds we sow, ultimately determine the harvest we will reap.
Reflective question:
Am I willing to offer all my negative thoughts and feelings to God?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.
