The Interior Man
Gospel Reflection for February 12, 2025
“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.” Mark 7:20-23
Today, Our Lord speaks to us about the Interior Man. He explains to His disciples that it is not what we put into our body that makes us unclean, but what proceeds from it. The uncleanliness that He speaks of here is in a ritualistic/moral sense. According to the Law of Moses, the Israelites could not eat certain foods because they made them unclean and unfit for worship. But Our Lord calls His people to a greater understanding of the Law.
We no longer consider foods unclean. It is not about what we eat that makes us unclean, instead, it is what proceeds from the heart. Moral impurity comes from within, that is to say, when our hearts have turned away from God and toward a created thing, we fall into Mortal Sin. The effects of Mortal Sin are disastrous for man. We lose Sanctifying Grace, the Theological Virtue of Charity, the Infused Gifts of the Spirit, and the Trinity no longer makes His abode in us. This state of Mortal Sin makes us radically opposed to God.
It is this state that Our Lord speaks about in today’s Gospel. These sins defile us and make us unfit for Heaven. On the contrary, we are called to run to the mercy of God and to allow Him to re-infuse us with His grace.
Our souls are meant to be dwelling places for the Trinitarian God. Our soul is like a house in which our interior man lives. The Lord comes and knocks at the door of our soul and seeks to come in to dine with us. It is up to us to allow Him in and converse with Him in the most intimate way possible. Through prayer, mortification, and recourse to the Sacraments, Our Lord comes to dwell in us when we remain in a state of grace. The more we converse with the Lord, through our interior life, the more we turn away from the love of earthly things, and turn toward God, who loved us first.
A good reminder. I'd suggest a good explanation on the distinction of grave matter vs. mortal sins for a good catechesis on the topic: what is required for a grave sin to become a mortal sin.
Why?
I think some of us, including myself, need to be reminded that it is a good that we know the faith, we know how culpability works--we have been given a great responsibility. And given this responsibility how much more culpable any of us are who possess the knowledge of the faith. How much more do we defile ourselves when we act contrary to the Lord?