SERMON/HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY 5TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II 7TH FEBRUARY 2024
SERMON/HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY 5TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II 7TH FEBRUARY 2024 1Kings 10:1-10; Ps.37; Mark 7:14-23 The content of the Heart matters The gospel of today is a direct continuation of that of yesterday. Yesterday, the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciple of ritual uncleanliness since they did not wash before eating. To have eaten with unclean hands amounted to being unclean. In response, Jesus turned the focus of the Pharisees from a religiosity of conformity to a religiosity of the heart. If our actions do not emanate from a heart of love, they are mere superfluous. The discourse on the place of the heart in our ethical and religious life continues in today’s gospel reading. Whatever goes into a man (by way of food), cannot make him unclean because it does not affect the mind. On the other hand, whatever comes out of a man is able to defile him because every action of man is first conceived in the heart. By this analogy, Jesus was teaching the Pharisees to better focus on w...