Pay attention to what comes out of you (HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE II (ST. DOMINIC - AUGUST 08, 2024)
HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE II (ST. DOMINIC - AUGUST 08, 2024) Jer.31:31-34; Ps.51; Matthew 16:13-23 Pay attention to what comes out of you In the gospel reading of today, the Pharisees and the Scribes complained to Jesus about the uncleanliness of his disciples especially as regards observing the rituals of etiquette. For Jesus, this was a good opportunity to address the pretentious religiosity of the Pharisees and the Scribes. While they accused Jesus’ disciples of paying no attention to the outside, they were guiltier of paying no attention to the inside. Jesus said that a man becomes unclean on account of what emerges from him; not on the basis of what goes into him. So, if we want to be holy, we should be more mindful of what we emit. This includes our actions, behaviours, habits, words, gesticulations, body languages and so on. All of these can have moral undertone. When they are positive, they lead us to holiness; but when they are negative