From the Heart

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.’ He answered them, ‘And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, “Honor your father and your mother,” and, “Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.” But you say that whoever tells father or mother, “Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God”, then that person need not honor the father. So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.” ’ Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’ Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’ He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ Then he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’ Matthew 15:1-20

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?" This is a famous line utter by Scrooge in Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It seems there are many in our country and in positions of power who resonant with this sentiment. We see people utter cruel statements about the most needy in the country while claiming to hold Chrisitan values. We cannot claim to be followers or Christ and have hard hearts and mean tongues. Jesus couldn't have been clearer than that. From ancient times our scriptures, both the Jewish and Christian scriptures and traditions, call us to feed the hungry, house the homeless and care for the sick, the elderly and the alien. We are reminded by Jesus today to be those with hearts of love, compassion and kindness, so that what we say and do match our hearts' desires.

Loving Creator, who put compassion in our hearts

and who calls us throughout time to be compasion

for the lost, the lonely and all those who are in need.

We have become molded by a greedy, selfish society

which believes we can be cruel and Christian too

and we forget that we are always called to serve others.

Help us Lord, to examine our hearts and words today

may they be aligned by your love and forgiveness

so that we might do your work in the world today. Amen.