MATCH YOUR WORDS AND YOUR ACTIONS.

Tuesday of Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Year C Mark 7:1-13 “This people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” Three points that I would like to share. First, it is easy to honor God with our words but He is not after of the sweet words of our mouth but He is looking for the purity of our hearts. Words are nothing if what we profess does not match with our performance. It is very easy to say, I am sorry, I love you, I will not do again. But the question is: Did you put into practice what you have promised? How sincere are your words? How true are you tonyour promises? Friends, let not our lips and our lives preach two different messages. Honor God with your heart not just by your lips. Do it, show it, prove it. Remember, “well-done is better than well-said.” Second, Jesus is not please with people whose hands are clean but with dirty heart. In short, it is the behaviour and character that counts not the looks and appearnace. Be mindful that dirty hands does not mean dirty hearts. Clean and beautiful hands does not follow clean and beautiful hearts. Let us prove our devotion with the authenticity of our love. Belief in God is superfecial and shallow if human tradition transcends God’s law. Finally, eat whatever you wish to eat but never be hard on people. Washing of hands is good but cleansing of our hearts is better. Sanitize your hands and don’t forget to purify your hearts. Do not worry if your hands are dirty as long as your hear is pure. Friends, never live a dicotomize life. I mean, avoid living a double life. It is hypocritical if you are faithful church goer but having an illict affair with someone at the same time. You memorized all the church prayers but at the same time you have your own daily litanies of swearing and cursing that’s hypocrisy! Just like Jesus, he broke that sanitary law because the rules are not serving love anymore. Jesus broke the law to heal people. Take note, the highest rule is love. The rule of love is the supreme law. God’s commandment is far more important than human trafitions. Stop confusing what you do with who you are. Blessings Fr. Jhack

PURIFY YOUR HEARTS

Tuesday of Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Year C Mark 7:1-13 Our gospel speaks about ritual purity:sanitary concerns. The Scribes and Pharisees questioning Jesus for violating their tradition and practice of purity-washing hands before meals. It is very clear for Jesus that it is not what goes into our mouths that makes us unclean. Friends, the gospel is telling us that the problem is not the stomach but the heart. Sanitize your hands but never forget to purify your hearts. Cleanliness is not only an external concerns but primarily on internals affairs too. If we are clean externally but dirty internally that is hypocrisy. For Jesus, if we want to know the things that defiles us let us look into our hearts. I hate to say this but my dear friends, if our hands are clean but we are stealing stuff we dont own, we are dirty. If our hands are pretty but our thoughts are adulterous, lustful possess a pornographic memory, we are dirty. If our hands are spotless but we are malicious, greedy slanderous, dishonest and gossipers, we are dirty. Remember this: sin does not begin in the stomach but it starts in the hearts. What we eat may make us dirty but it won’t make us a sinner. Its unhealty but not unholy. Cleansing our hands does not make our hearts pure. Friends, moral cleanliness is more important than ritual purity. I love people with dirty hands than people with dirty mouth. Today be cautious with someone whose actions does not match with their words. What defiles a person is his own actions no the food he eats. Sorry to say this: It is hypocrisy when we are smiling but deep within we are upset and angry. We are fake if we praise the Lord but cursing other people. It is hypocrisy if we are praying in the church but swearing at home. It is hypocrisy when we say I love you but our actions shows hurts and hate. Hypocrites claim to know God but their actions deny Him. Hypocrites love to wear white robes but live in darkness. Hypocrites have clean hands but with dirty hearts. “This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Fellow sinners our heart needs help of heaven. Let us cry out to Jesus right now and ask Him to make us clean both in and out. Amen! Blessings Fr. Jhack