+ Our readings today get right to the heart of the matter: evil
began to exist on earth when the newly created man, formed out of the oozing and
steaming clay of the earth, having the breath of life blown into his nostrils
by God looked at the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil and didn’t
even realize at this point the all decisive and critical test that was placed
before him: will he eat from it or will he not – more about that saga in the
coming days in the first reading for mass.
Suffice it to stay here that
tests will be sent, many of them critical to our eternal salvation, because we
were formed in the image and likeness of God, thus possessing personhood and
the ability to use the ultimate gift of free will in the manner intended by
God: to do his holy and totally reliable and trustworthy will. Therefore, when
you need to make decisions today that you sense have a moral implication: then
we are free to make the right choice: the one that most corresponds to the will
of God for us, and those whose lives ours will touch this day.
In the gospel passage, Jesus
makes foods that were heretofore considered taboo and sinful to eat, clean, by
saying that what goes into a man does not make him unclean as far as religious
observance goes, but what comes out of his heart, what is the fruit of
free-will run riot, free-will misused: evil thoughts, unchastity, theft,
murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy,
arrogance, folly: these evils come from within and they most definitely do
defile and render a man unclean and a menace to society!
The choice then is ours today,
moment by moment, is this activity, this thought, this deed coming from the
goodness in my heart, or from having succumbed to temptation, eating from the
forbidden fruit, and thus rendering myself unfit for healthy relationships with
my brothers and sisters journeying with me to eternal placement!
Lord, when you breathe on us,
you send forth your spirit, and we are created, and you renew the face of the
earth. May it be so this day in our lives! Amen.
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