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“The devil made me do it!” “I was overcome by evil spirits.” “I am only human, what do you expect?” Have we not used these lines or at least had thoughts which were similar?

There is No bad pill we swallow that makes us bad! If we chance upon an erotic picture say on the internet and instead of closing it and moving on, we choose to stare, let our imagination run amok and then look for more erotica…can we then remain blameless? Or when something doesn’t go as we planned do we accept the challenges, react calmly and look into correcting or even improving on it or do we throw tantrums, get emotionally charged and start looking to blame someone? How then are we going to live out our Christian values? How do we remain focussed on God and His Will for us?

O Lord my God You give us Your Living Word and of Yourself in the Eucharist, so that by choosing to consume Your Word into our very being; You give us the nourishment and strength to withstand the forces of evil. Let our minds, bodies and soul dwell on and in You as You dwell in our hearts. Let us be beacons for others which draws all to come to You. So together with them we will proclaim, “Blessed be the Lord our God! Now and for ever.” Amen

FIRST READING
1 Kings 10:1–10

GOSPEL
Mark 7:14–23

Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”

When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) “But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

Solomon Dedicates The Temple at Jerusalem
( Painting By James Jacques Joseph Tissot)

Do we pray only for those who we deem worthy or do we pray for all, especially those who have hurt or wounded us? When we say we love and serve God with all our heart, do we then love and care for our neighbour? Do we love and care for the grumpy old man or woman suffering with pain and sickness? Do we love and care for the poor, the homeless, the weak? Do we love and care for our aged parents? Do we judge others by their appearance or behaviour and turn away from them, or do we welcome them regardless with the love of Christ? Are we rigid and calculative? Or are we open, kind, inviting and loving? We want forgiveness from God, but are we readily forgiving? Let us honour and serve our Lord with His laws written in our hearts filled with His love. Let us serve our God, with Body, Mind and soul through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever  and ever. Amen

FIRST READING 1 Kings 8:22–23, 27–30

GOSPEL Mark 7:1–13

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
And on coming from the marketplace
they do not eat without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.)
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
“Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”
He responded,
“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.”
He went on to say,
“How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition!
For Moses said,
Honor your father and your mother,
and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.
Yet you say,
‘If someone says to father or mother,
“Any support you might have had from me is qorban”’
(meaning, dedicated to God),
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God
in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things.”