Mark 7:14-23
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to
me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going
in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’
When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his
disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Then do you also fail
to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside
cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out
into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, ‘It is what
comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human
heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery,
avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All
these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’
Reflection:
Do I always judge others by their appearance?
Am I patient to listen to the heart of others?