Wednesday 7 February 2024

Today is Wednesday the 7th of February in the fifth week of Ordinary time.

The community of Taizé sing: Seigneur, tu gardes mon âme. ‘Lord, you watch over my soul. You know my heart. Lead me on the road to eternity.’

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 7:14-23

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, ‘It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’

Today, we hear (in detail) the role our bodies play in our spiritual life. How often do you value the key role your physical body plays on your spiritual journey? What could your body teach you today?

‘It is from within, from the human heart …’. How is your heart today?

In the presence of God, listen to your body. Listen to your heart.

As you hear the passage again, let whatever word or phrase come to the fore. Let it resonate.

In these closing moments, sit, walk, stand, kneel before God. You can pour out your heart. You can give thanks for whatever enriches; ask for help to let go of whatever holds you back.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.