Today’s gospel reading was from Mark 7, “You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”…”Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”  …”From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts,”

Father Bill in his homily explained this by saying we tend to disregard God’s Commandments and cling to the laws made by man.  We forget that by accepting Jesus we become part of the divine and should be clinging to God’s divinity instead of the traditions of man, but we separate ourselves from the divine when we live by our bodies instead of our brains.  Father went on to explain that every time we have a thought it produces chemicals in our bodies.  These chemicals bring on reactions in our bodies that cause us to accept or reject the actions around the thought.  As Christians, we are called to take on the mind of Christ, which means we are to be doers of the Word even when we do not understand.  We are to take care of the orphans and the widows; who represent the non persons of our times, the people who are dependent on others.  If we do this even when we do not understand, our predictable way of thinking changes our very being of who we are.   We become the body of Christ we are called to be. 

I had not thought about it in this way before but it seems to make really good sense.  There are times when first impressions, first thoughts, have caused unexplained physical reactions.  Those times when the heart starts racing for no reason, or the knees turn weak, or the stomach starts rumbling.  Those times when you see someone and you either think I am so glad to see them or oh no, I can’t deal with them now.   Our mind’s thoughts cause chemical reactions that influence our body’s reactions and those reactions influence our thoughts.  By taking on the mind of Christ, we are to no longer think the way man thinks but the way Christ thinks.  By thinking, doing and acting the Way of Christ we become doers of the Word, part of the divine, joined with Christ to the Father. 

What do you think? 

 What did you hear about the Gospel reading today where you are at?