Homily for February 7, 2018.
“For from
within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft,
murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander,
pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a
man.” Mark 7:21-23.
If I had a
lot of money, there are a lot of places in this world I would like to travel to
at least before I die. However, as the saying goes, a true voyage of discovery
is not in seeing new lands but in changing one’s eyes. Our readings today
invite us on a special voyage of discovery – the land deep down within!
Yes, just
as the queen of Sheba travelled all the way from Africa to see Solomon who was
actually trending on world media (back in the days) as the wisest fellow
amongst all humans, we are called today to travel into a place we don’t really
like to visit; the heart; the cooking pot so to say where our ideas,
inspirations, motivations and feelings emanate from.
Jesus
says, it is not what comes into a man from outside that defile him rather it is
what comes from within a man. This means we have something inside of us that
produces things which eventually destroy us.
The
question is: “How often do I take out time to examine the contents of my
thoughts? How often do I even try to censor that inner drama that goes on
within me? When last did I take a broom and mop into my dark room; the place
where I store my lustful fantasies, my never-to-be-forgiven enemies, my vain
ambitions, my desire for revenge and so on?
Dear
friend, if you must worship God and really avoid sin, then never allow your
thoughts be on auto-pilot. Be the driver, select, control, adjust your
thoughts. In his book, “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” Robin Sharma exposed a
secret of controlling one’s inner wold – he said the mind is incapable of
thinking of two opposite thoughts at the same time.
This
means, once you catch yourself thinking of or dwelling on something bad, you
can quickly stop it by forcing yourself to think of the direct opposite. I believe
the battle against sin is a battle of the mind. We save ourselves from
defilement by purifying that thing inside of us that manufactures bad thoughts.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, make me pure and holy inside. Amen.
*Be happy,
live positive, it is well with you. Wednesday of the 5th week in
Ordinary time. Bible
Study: 1st Kings 10:1-10 and Mark 7:14-23.*
Fr. Abu.
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