Purity of Heart Begins with Self: Reflection for 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

In the Gospel of Mark for this Sunday, we hear about Jesus confronting those of religious authority. What he noticed was something troubling that he called them out.

"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. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile." Jesus called out those with impure hearts as they were dismissive of God’s law and commandments. He’s calling us to live a pure life.

Today, we are under siege from pride. Now, pride is not just related to LGBTQ (I forget the other letters the lavender mafia added or attempted to add). Rather, it relates to everyday life.

St. Augustine puts it well, “Pride is the beginning of sin. And what is pride but the craving for undue exaltation? “It is no coincidence that through pride sin entered the world. It began at the Garden of Eden. Our shortsighted pride opens us to the ready temptation to substitute our preferences for God’s commandments, either because we find God’s law too strict or because we find it too compassionate. We fail to understand that God has mapped out for us the way to the life for which we yearn.

Psalm One reminds us, “Happy indeed is the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked; nor lingers in the way of sinners nor sits in the company of scorners, but whose delight is the law of the Lord and who ponders his law day and night.”

The psalmist gives us an idea of how to live the life God intended for us. We are called to follow the way of God and not of the world. If we want to walk in the path of God, we first must get our own house in order. It must be spiritually prepared. We get our souls cleaned by receiving God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Penance.

A sage priest once told me that God, “is patient in forgiveness”. All it takes is to seek it.

It has been stressed so frequently by priests and lay evangelists and will continue to be.

GO TO CONFESSION! God’s mercy awaits us.