From: Mark 7:14-23
What Defiles a Man
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Commentary:
15. Some important codices add here: “If any man has ears to hear, let him
hear,” which would form verse 16.
18-19. We know from Tradition that St. Mark was the interpreter of St. Peter and
that, in writing his Gospel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he gathered up
the Roman catechesis of the head of the Apostles.
The vision which St. Peter had in Joppa (Acts 10:10-16) showed him the full
depth of what Jesus teaches here about food. When he returns to Jerusalem, St.
Peter himself tells us this in his report on the conversion of Cornelius: “I remem-
bered the word of the Lord” (Acts 11:16). The now non-obligatory character of
such prescriptions laid down by God in the Old Testament (cf. Leviticus 11)
would have been something St. Peter included in his preaching. For interpreta-
tion of this text cf. also note on Matthew 15:10-20.
[Note on Matthew 15:10-20 states:
10-20. Our Lord proclaims the true meaning of moral precepts and makes it
clear that man has to answer to God for his actions. The scribes’ mistake con-
sisted in concentrating on externals and not giving pride of place to interior puri-
ty of heart. For example they saw prayer in terms of exact recital of fixed forms
of words rather than as a raising of the soul to God (cf. Matthew 6:5-6). The
same thing happened in the case of dietary regulations.
Jesus avails Himself of the particular cases dealt with in this passage to teach
us where to find the true center of moral action: it lies in man’s personal deci-
sion, good or evil, a decision which is shaped in his heart and which then is ex-
pressed in the form of action. For example, the sins which our Lord lists are
sins committed in the human heart prior to being acted out. In the Sermon on
the Mount He already said this: “Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has
already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).]
20-23. “In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses the expres-
sion ‘heart’ in its full meaning, as the summary and source, expression and ulti-
mate basis, of one’s thoughts, words and actions” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is
Passing By”, 164).
The goodness or malice, the moral quality, of our actions does not depend on
their spontaneous, instinctive character. The Lord Himself tells us that sinful ac-
tions can come from the human heart.
We can understand how this can happen if we realize that, after original sin, man
“was changed for the worse” in both body and soul and was, therefore, prone to
evil (cf. Council of Trent, “De Peccato Originali”). Our Lord here restores morality
in all its purity and intensity.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States
First reading | 1 Kings 10:1-10 © |
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Psalm | Psalm 36:5-6,30-31,39-40 © |
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Gospel Acclamation | cf.2Tim1:10 |
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Or | Jn17:17 |
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Gospel | Mark 7:14-23 © |
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