Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

“Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”

 

Gospel Reading: 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.”

 

Where does evil come from? Jesus is quite clear that nothing that his Father in Heaven created is evil, but that evil comes out of man. We know that everything God created is good and when God looked at the whole of creation, He said that it was “very good”.  Therefore, evil is created by man himself.  Jesus says that “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” Evil grows from within our own souls, the same place where God gave us the ability to love. Evil starts small as thoughts within our heart and begins to fill our soul and take over the love which was created by God. Evil grows from our own internal desires and thoughts. Some people like to believe that sin just happens and that there are evil things in this world that cause us to sin. But sin doesn’t just happen, it forms from deep inside us and then is projected from us into the world. It is our intentions that become actions which become evil. It is us who have to nurture the evil. Only the human mind can conceive evil and only the human will can allow it to grow. We must learn to take control of these thoughts. God wants to free us from the burdens which sin places upon us. God has placed the Holy Spirit within us to help us overcome the evil. It is through God that we recognize sin and through His grace that we are forgiven and freed from the bondage of sin and evil. God’s love for us enables us to recognize sin and gives us the strength to choose what is good and to reject what is evil. We must trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us and to help us wipe out the evil that forms within.  As we begin to chose good over evil, we replace evil with our soul with the love fostered by God.  Today, ask yourself the simple question, “What occupies my soul?”

 

A Simple Prayer

 

My Father in Heaven, help me fight the evil which forms within.

Give me the wisdom to recognize evil and to make wise choices.

May I chose good and concur the evil intentions within my soul.

 

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon