August 4th, 2020: Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14.
“Not what goes into his
mouth makes him impure,” Jesus says in today’s gospel, “What comes out of his
mouth makes him impure.” This statement would have shocked Jesus’ fellow Jews.
Jesus’ disciples told Jesus that it had. “The Pharisees were scandalized when
they heard your pronouncement,” they tell him. The Jewish dietary laws said
that went into the mouth was important. Anything with blood in it, and
all pork, were not kosher (forbidden). Jesus often set aside the law of
his people. He healed on the Sabbath, for instance, when the illness was not
life-threatening. That violated the Jewish law of rest on the Sabbath.
“What comes out of a
person’s mouth,” stands for our behavior in daily life; especially for how we
treat others. I am in my 92nd year and, thank God, in excellent
health and still active. But I live in an assisted living retirement home.
Countless times every day there is a knock on my door. Someone is coming to
give me medication, to take my vital signs, or just to see how I’m doing.
During my daily morning prayers, I always ask the Lord to help me show
gratitude and courtesy to everyone who visits me that day. I thank them for
their visit. If the visitor is a woman, I call her “dear.” Each time I do that,
it brings me joy. It clearly brings joy to others too. I told a visitor
recently: “I thank God every day for the wonderful care I receive here.” Her
response: “You make it so easy.”
Your life it completely
different from mine. But you can do what I do. Ask the Lord each morning to
help you bring joy to everyone you encounter that day. There are so many ways
of doing that. Show them courtesy, thank them if they’ve done something for
you. Speak words of admiration. Or just smile.
Those are all ways of
sharing with others the love which the Lord God has for you. And always
remember: you can’t keep God’s love – unless you give it away!
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