"Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition."
[Mark 7:6-7]
A Reflection on the Gospel Reading for Sunday August 30, 2015 [Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23]
Nothing that enters from outside defiles us; only the things that come from within defile us. Do we really believe this? How often do we fall into the mindset of thinking that the problems we face come from things outside ourselves? Alcohol, smart phones, pornography, sugar-laden rich desserts, problems with our boss or children. The list is endless.
Jesus’ message in today’s Gospel is the opposite of what society tells us. Take obesity and food. The problem is restaurant portion sizes, fast food, corn syrup. Even knowing that our brain “wires” us to overeat makes it “outside” ourselves, not our fault.
Jesus tells us that no food is evil or sinful. What we do with food can be evil and sinful. No alcohol and no technology are inherently bad. How we decide to use them comes from within us and that is what can get us into trouble. And pornography? It is what is within us (individually and collectively!) that creates pornography just as the desire to watch it comes from within.
The list is endless. What defiles is within us.
Nothing that enters from outside defiles us; only the things that come from within defile us. Do we really believe this? How often do we fall into the mindset of thinking that the problems we face come from things outside ourselves? Alcohol, smart phones, pornography, sugar-laden rich desserts, problems with our boss or children. The list is endless.
Jesus’ message in today’s Gospel is the opposite of what society tells us. Take obesity and food. The problem is restaurant portion sizes, fast food, corn syrup. Even knowing that our brain “wires” us to overeat makes it “outside” ourselves, not our fault.
Jesus tells us that no food is evil or sinful. What we do with food can be evil and sinful. No alcohol and no technology are inherently bad. How we decide to use them comes from within us and that is what can get us into trouble. And pornography? It is what is within us (individually and collectively!) that creates pornography just as the desire to watch it comes from within.
The list is endless. What defiles is within us.
Kristina DeNeve is the diocesan coordinator for Adult Faith Formation and Evangelization. She provides weekly reflections like these for parishes and ministries to use in bulletins, websites, and newsletters. Kristina also offers the "Second Saturday Workshops". You can find these resources and more on the Adult Faith Formation & Evangelization page of the Diocese of Honolulu website. |