ENLIGHTEN OUR MINDS
AND PURIFY OUR HEARTS
AND PURIFY OUR HEARTS
In the Responsorial
Psalm, we acclaim, "O Lord, our God, how wonderful Your name in all the
earth! When I behold Your heavens, the
work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You set in place - What is man
that You should be mindful of him, or the son of man that You should care for
him? You have given him rule over the works of Your hands, putting all things
under his feet" (Ps 8:2a, 4-7). If we listen to His Word and praise His
name, He will enter into our hearts!
In Mark's Gospel, today, we see Jesus
challenging the Pharisees and some scribes for their hypocrisy. They insist on
a strict observance of even the smallest purification regulations while, at the
same time, ignoring the far more important Commandments of God regarding
justice and mercy. For Jesus, it comes down to an issue of making human
regulations far more important than God's Commandments. This is even more
devious for religious leaders because they tend to be clever enough to justify
their hypocrisy and, thus, promote their self-righteousness. Hypocrisy among
so-called religious people is just as prevalent today as it was centuries ago.
Jesus' words are meant to challenge all of us who claim to be His followers.
If we listen to God's Word with faith
and reverence, it will both enlighten our minds and purify our hearts, enabling
us to understand more clearly how He wants us to love and serve Him, and those
around us. We must remember that real purification comes from within the
heart.
This is God's will, not ours!