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.”
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Reflection:
Where does the desire to commit sin emanates?
It first emanates from within us. It begins when we think about it and if we
don’t stop thinking about our desire to commit sin it slowly progresses. Until
we actually give flesh to our desire to sin by actually doing it!
For example, the desire of a husband/wife to
betray their marriage vows. It starts by thinking about it and when we see that
the situation is conducive to commit the act of sin/betrayal. The spouse will
now succumb to commit this immoral sin. Therefore, the desire to commit sin
originates from within us.
How then could we avoid sin? We pray to Jesus
and ask His help to exterminate whatever sinful desires that we have in our
minds. Then we also have to do our part by taking action to rid ourselves of
the desire to sin and by running away from sin. Because if we pray yet our
actions are not according to what we have been praying for we would still
commit sin sooner or later. As the saying goes God help those who help
themselves.
But come to think of it, why do we commit sin?
The simple answer is we don’t take our faith in Jesus seriously this is the
reason why we commit sin when we want to commit it. Are we not tired yet of
sinning? Are we not tired yet of mortgaging our lives to the devil? When we
continuously mortgage our lives to the devil through sin, there is the danger
that we may not anymore be able to get out of it!
It’s about time that we change this cycle of
sin, it’s about time that we rid ourselves of any sinful thoughts and desires.
It’s about time that we free ourselves from any problems and complication
brought about by sin. This could only happen if we ask Jesus to come into
our lives.
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