CLEANNESS IS FROM WITHIN

Mat 15:1-2, 10-14

The gospel presents to us another encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees. As usual, Pharisees were very faithful to the law and the tradition of the elders and were eager to fight anybody who will break this tradition. In this case they discover that Jesus’ disciples did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. When they approached Jesus to question him, he took it as an opportunity to teach them the importance of being transparent in life. Jesus took this opportunity to denounce their hypocrisy by emphasizing the importance of interior cleanliness. He says that it is not what enters into ones mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth. True cleanness is not seen from the outside but from the heart; it is a spiritual cleanliness.

The message for us is that what we have within us, and the choices we make along with the things we say and do, are which determine whether or not we are worthy enough to be in the Lord’s presence. We are defiled not by what we eat, and whether or not we wash our hands before meals, but by what we think, say and do. Evil thoughts and evil intentions are from the heart, from within.

Sometimes if not often we have this pharisaic attitude in our ordinary lives. Sometimes we live in a kind of show off of what we are and what we do in terms of moral and religious conduct. We are sometimes more faithful to external appearance, yet missing the very important part of cleansing our hearts. We tend to take care of what people see and look good externally. The Gospel calls us to harmonize our inner attitudes with our external actions. Outside appearances do not really matter, what matters is what is inside our heart. It is a call to sincerity, consistency and integrity in our lives. It is an occasion to ask ourselves: Are my external actions fruits of my deep relationship with God? Do my external actions express my eagerness to do God’s will?