Gospel: February 12, 2025
February 12, 2025 (Wednesday)
5th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 1 / (Green)
Ps 104:1-2a, 27-28, 29bc-30
O bless the Lord, my soul
1st Reading: Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17
Gospel: Mark 7:14-23
Jesus then called the people to him again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand. Nothing that enters a person from the outside can make that person unclean. It is what comes from within that makes a person unclean. Let everyone who has ears listen.” When Jesus got home and was away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about this saying, and he replied, “So even you are dull? Do you not see that whatever comes from outside cannot make a person unclean, since it enters not the heart but the stomach, and is finally passed out?” Thus Jesus declared that all foods are clean. And he went on, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him, for evil designs come out of the heart: theft, murder, adultery, jealousy, greed, maliciousness, deceit, indecency, slander, pride and folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.”
Reflection
“To choose God and choose the good.”
Are the readings going in opposite directions? In Genesis, God places a restriction on eating, while in the Gospel, the Son of God lifts the restrictions followed by the Jews by declaring all foods ritually clean. And yet, in the end, both have the same message about making good choices. In the garden, God’s loving kindness provides for his creation, and so the man has all he needs. In fact, he has more than he needs, since he may “eat of every tree in the garden.” However, God has set a limit, showing that man is not God, and that he relies on God. To eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolizes the desire to have no limits, the desire to take God’s place. Yet, to do that, one has to separate oneself from God, which is to separate oneself from life itself. God’s commands are given to us to choose God and choose the good. They allow us to flourish rather than wither in chaotic selfishness. This is Christ’s message, too. If we want to flourish, we should avoid entertaining the evil desires and selfish intentions of our hearts.
