Wednesday - February 09, 2022
"Only those who set aside their own knowledge and walk in God's service like unlearned children receive wisdom from God"
-John of The Cross
TODAY'S READINGS
WEDNESDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Lectionary: 331
1 Kgs 10:1-10
The queen of Sheba, having heard of Solomon’s fame,
came to test him with subtle questions.
She arrived in Jerusalem with a very numerous retinue,
and with camels bearing spices,
a large amount of gold, and precious stones.
She came to Solomon and questioned him on every subject
in which she was interested.
King Solomon explained everything she asked about,
and there remained nothing hidden from him
that he could not explain to her.
When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom,
the palace he had built, the food at his table,
the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters,
his banquet service,
and the burnt offerings he offered in the temple of the LORD,
she was breathless.
“The report I heard in my country
about your deeds and your wisdom is true,” she told the king.
“Though I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes,
I have discovered that they were not telling me the half.
Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard.
Blessed are your men, blessed these servants of yours,
who stand before you always and listen to your wisdom.
Blessed be the LORD, your God,
whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of Israel.
In his enduring love for Israel,
the LORD has made you king to carry out judgment and justice.”
Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty gold talents,
a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones.
Never again did anyone bring such an abundance of spices
as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Responsorial Psalm 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40
R. (30a) The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom
and his tongue utters what is right.
The law of his God is in his heart,
and his steps do not falter.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
Alleluia Jn 17:17b, 17a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth:
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 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.”
**********************************
THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS TO HEAVEN
Do you want Jesus to give you an easy short-cut to heaven? Who wouldn't! But the path of holiness is a difficult inner journey, not an external guarantee like: If I go to Mass every Sunday, I'm going to stay out of hell. If I serve on various committees at church, I'm winning God's favor. If I fast for at least one hour before Mass, I'm like the folks that Jesus was talking about in today's Gospel reading, because no food is defiling the Eucharist that I consume.
Hey wait a minute! I don't want to be like them!
The kingdom of heaven is not a "future" we hope to attain. God's kingdom is already at hand, here and now. If we accept the fact that Jesus died to heal us from our separation from God -- a separation caused by our sins -- then we live in his kingdom now. Heaven on earth is full of crosses and temptation, but it's still divine. We already belong to God.
Heaven as the after-earth-life is, simply put, the future perfection of the life that we have now. No more crosses, no more temptations, no more impurities in our relationship with God (thanks to purgatory purging out all remaining imperfections). Heaven after death is a continuation of what began on earth.
The path of heaven on earth is a journey of holiness, and our path is defiled by our unholy deeds. We cannot blame the path if we stray from it. Nor can we depend on our path-making tools to carry us to heaven.
Perfect attendance at Mass is only a tool that helps us smooth the road, but if we are not becoming the Eucharist that we consume, and if the true presence of Christ is not coming out from our hearts the rest of the week, what's the point of going to Mass? Staying away from church is no more sinful than going to church and returning home unchanged.
Serving on parish committees is the rock and tar that we use to pave the road, but what happens when someone picks up one of those rocks and hits us in the head with it? If what then comes out from us is evil thoughts, malice, blasphemy, arrogance, or folly, we've been lost on a short-cut that sends us in circles; we haven't been building the path that leads straight to heaven. We've not been following Jesus. Maybe there's a holy card of Jesus tacked to a sign on the road ahead of us, but that's not Jesus.
We dare not blame anyone but ourselves for our unholiness. We are not defiled by the evil-doings of others. When someone treats us unlovingly with evil thoughts, theft, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, envy, arrogance, or folly, these are only externals. How we react to them shows us what's in our hearts: holiness or defilement, Jesus or a plastic statue of him, heaven or worldliness.
Today's Prayer
Purify my interior, Holy Spirit, so that each
day You can reign more in me. Amen.
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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