Wed. Feb. 7, 2007 (5 week Ordinary Time)

Scripture: Genesis 2:5-9.15-17. Psalm 104:1-2.27-30. Mark 7:14-23 Two sayings came to me as I pondered and prayed the readings for today. They both sprung from the Gospel of Mark and Jesus' words about what defile a person. He is teaching the listeners that what comes from within us is more important than rules governing what is clean and unclean in foods or dietary rules. The first saying is also from Jesus but from another context: "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:45). The second sayings comes from the founder of the Marianist congregation called the Society of Mary. He tells his followers, "The essential is the interior (life)." Blessed Chaminade was declared blessed on Sept. 3, 2000 by Pope John Paul II. I was privileged to distribute Communion at this Solemn Mass in which four blesseds were declared. There were over five thousand Marianists both lay and vowed who attended this celebration. Both sayings helped me to understand the saying of Jesus in Mark's Gospel for today, "It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication,theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." Jesus is calling us to integrity in our words and our actions. What is important for Jesus is that we unite ourselves to his heart and share from our own hearts his love and his realness in our lives. Our words and our deeds are to help others experience the Spirit of God within us. The beatitudes and sayings of Jesus are to be spelled out, live out, in our ordinary everyday encounters. We pray with today's psalm, "Send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth." We have been created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis tells us) and at every step and stage of this creation God sees that it was good; indeed, very good. We are to imitators of God and like St. Paul say, "For me to live is Christ." Amen.