Introductory Prayer:  Lord, I sometimes find it hard to understand how difficult your life was, how many obstacles you had to overcome, how patient you had to be. I come to you in prayer to know you better. I believe that knowing you, trusting you and loving you, my life will change. Here I am, and I open my heart to you for you to change it, so that out of it will come good and not evil.

Petition:  My Lord and my God, grant me the graces I most need. Show yourself to me. Give me the gift of knowledge and humility, so that I will honor you in truth and not only with my lips, but by doing your will in my life.

Gospel: Mk 7 : 5-8, 14, 15, 21-23

And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?" And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men. "

And he called the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him. 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."

1.  The Judges.

The question the Pharisees ask is a veiled insult to Christ. They say, your disciples (in opposition to theirs) do such and such a thing. Christ reads their hearts and finds them far from him. This distresses him, not because he dislikes the Pharisees, but because there is much he wants to give them.  He wants to change their hearts so they will bear the fruit of good actions in their lives, but they have closed the doors of their hearts to him and have shut out his transforming gift.  He wants to perfect their worship of God by renewing their hearts. It is easy to judge others by the wrong standards, especially since we only see the exterior. God knows the heart. That is what is important to him.

2. The Importance Of Our Heart.

Our heart, spiritually speaking, is the part of us that is capable of love. It is the seat of our attachments and Jesus tells us that it is the source of our choices. Sin is caused by the disorder of love, the attachment to things that are unworthy of us, a number of which Christ lists for his audience. Christ also tells us that these are what define us. With this, he is telling us that we should not blame the evil we do on causes external to us, but we should look for its source in the attachments we nourish in our hearts.

Christ's idea of true religion is therefore not empty external practices, but the transformation of our heart. The central commandment of the law, Christ says elsewhere, is to love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength. Second comes, Love your neighbor as yourself. These are the attachments that should guide our choices.

3.  Understand God.

He called the people to him again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand". Jesus wants us to think, to understand. He does not want us to act on feeling alone, on convention alone. He seeks a personal, mature commitment to his way. Love is not unthinking or a thing of feelings. Jesus wants our mind, enlightened by his words, to be the guide of our actions. The heart is not blind, it has a guide which is our understanding, which in turn has a guide, his word.

In prayer we should not only seek to understand, but we should above all ask God to transform our hearts to accept what he tells us, to accept and follow his way, so that our actions may be true. This leads us to authenticity in our lives, with our words and our actions both be in harmony with Gods will.

Conversation with Christ:  Lord, send your light into my heart, so that I love the things you love, and do what you would have me do. Prune me of false loves, vanity and human respect. Let me not live for what others see and think but for what you see and think. Purify my heart so that it will be the source of actions that are pleasing to you.

Questionnaire:  This optional questionnaire is intended to help you evaluate your life in light of the inspirations God just gave you in these moments you spent with him in prayer.

1. Am I ever afraid of asking God to change my heart? What things am I attached to that would have to change if I did let him change it?

2. What do I tend to judge my progress and the quality of my Christian life by, externals only, emotions, love that gives rise to good actions?

3. What are the fruits that issue from my heart and mind? Do my good thoughts and words, thoughtfulness, generosity, and wisdom show that I live my Christian calling coherently?