Wednesday February 8th: If anyone has ears, let him listen to this

“Nothing that goes into a man can make him unclean.”

Mark 7:14-23

In today’s gospel Jesus gives us a fundamental teaching, and as always, his teachings are expressed in parables. This makes us use our imagination for we do not understand it just by our intellect. In this parable he tells us: Nothing that goes into a man can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean.

In the scriptures we learn: God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances, but God looks at the heart (1Samuel 16:7). This tells us then that we must always be genuine, for when we think that we can deceive others by our behaviour, God is not so duped. This is why when we go to confession, we are not forgiven our sins unless we have a firm purpose of amendment, showing that we have reflected and are sincere.