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!
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.
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.
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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The call to have a renewed heart
“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” (First reading). We carry within us the breath of God, the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God in us shapes our attitudes, words and actions and leads us to share God’s love and goodness with those around us.
In today’s gospel, the religious leaders were concerned with external things like laws of what to eat and not to eat to be right with God. Jesus, however, cautioned the people to focus on their interior lives, i.e., their attitudes and values. Today, let us examine our hearts, our inner life and be aware of God’s spirit in us who desires to shape our attitudes and actions to become wholesome and life-giving. In this way, we can live a life of love that God has meant for us.
Reflective question:
Am I aware of the abiding presence of God’s spirit in me, and do I count on His help to lead me to live centered on doing God’s will?
Am I aware of the abiding presence of God’s spirit in me, and do I count on His help to lead me to live centered on doing God’s will?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
