St. Scholastica. virgin 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17

 On the day that Yahweh God made the earth

And the heavens, there was not yet on the earth any shrub of the fields, nor had any plant yet sprung up, for Yahweh God had not made it rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the earth,   but a mist went up from the earth and watered the surface of the earth.

 Then Yahweh God formed Man, dust drawn from the clay, and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life and Man became alive with breath.  God planted a garden in Eden in the east and there he placed Man whom he had created.   

Yahweh God caused to grow from the ground every kind of tree that is pleasing to see and good to eat, also the tree of Life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

 Yahweh God took Man and placed him in the garden of Eden to till it and take care of it.   Then Yahweh God gave an order to Man saying, “You may eat of every tree in the garden,   but of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you will not eat, for on the day you eat of it, you will die.”

 

Ps 104:1-2a, 27-28, 29bc-30

O bless the Lord, my soul!

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Mark 7:14-23

 Jesus then called the people to him again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand. Nothing that enters one from out­side can make that person unclean. It is what comes out from within that makes un­clean. Let everyone who has ears listen.”

 When Jesus got home and was away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about this saying and he replied, “So even you are dull? Do you not see that whatever comes from outside cannot make a person unclean? Since it enters, not the heart but the stomach and is finally passed out.”

Thus Jesus declared that all foods are clean.  And he went on, “What comes out of a person is what defiles, for evil designs come out of the heart: theft, murder, adultery, jealousy, greed, maliciousness, deceit, indecency, slander, pride and folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Again Jesus reminds His hearers that the heart is where the good and the bad comes. So instead of being preoccupied with the things of the outside, one must be looking inward and be concerned with what’s inside the heart.

Perhaps because external things are easy to handle that we focus our energy in trying to manage them. But the things of the heart are hard to control. We battle with ourselves.

And each time we take up arms, we see a bit of ourselves and our self-illusion is shattered. In the end, it is easier to be angry with others than with ourselves.