A Knowing Heart

 (Note: still haven't solved the mystery of how to publish our Daily Slice on the same day it was written. Working on it.)

 

 Mark 7; 14-23

What Defiles a Person

¹⁴ And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”¹⁷ And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Blaise Pascal said it well:  "“The heart has its reasons that reason does not know." The heart is capable of evil, as Jesus says (verses 21-23) but it also is the seat of goodness. Our task is to allow the heart to let goodness prevail over its sinful inclinations.   

Bro. Rene

 Lord Jesus, you teach us the way of the pure of heart, that we might see God more clearly, and so love God more fully. Help us to overcome the weakness and sin in our lives that prevent us from loving you and others with all our heart. Give us patience, perseverance, and confidence in your loving mercy for those sinful habits and behaviors that we find particularly difficult to overcome. Help us to know that your love for us is greater than our capacity to sin. Amen.

  Rev. Louis Delfra, C.S.C.