The readings of today draw our attention to a powerful truth that the decisive factor in our Christian life is not what is seen outside, but what is cultivated inside.
In the 1st Reading, Ben Sira says human beings are accountable for the actions we perform with our free will. God has placed before us life and death, good and evil. So, we are at life’s crossroads to make choice. The way to life is to follow the commandments of God while the way to death is to ignore them. We make choices using our freedom, for God does not force holiness on us any person. Our dealings with God and our fellow human beings are like the relationship between a driver and the road signs. Fidelity of the driver to the signs leads to a safe journey while infidelity to them leads otherwise.
Every day, in the hidden sanctuary of our conscience, we make choices that either move us toward life or toward destruction. In the Gospel, Jesus moves us from external compliance to interior transformation. He says the seed of human behaviour is the intention behind our actions. Our intention grows to form our attitude which shows up in our behaviour. Therefore, we should not underrate the intentions and motives behind one’s actions.
Jesus instructs us to live from within, because “not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out” (Mat 15:11). He is emphatic that sin does not begin with the hand; it begins within the heart, so does virtue not begin with applause, but with conviction. Every behaviour or action, be it good or bad, begins with an intention. So, what matters most to God is that we do things with clean conscience and good intention.
It is through this that our righteousness can exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, for they used to do things to win public praises while their intentions are impure. He insists that we consider our inner life and keep in mind that defilement of the body begins from within.
Therefore, before one thinks of making sacrifice to God he/she needs to assess the intention whether it is for self gratification or for ultruistic purpose. We must shun all actions done out of ill motives: “pluck it out and throw it away” (Mat 5:29).
In the 2nd Reading, Paul, through his admonition to the Corinthians, tells us that if we apply God’s wisdom, which is different from human wisdom, our actions shall always be perfect. May we always purify our interior motives and guard our hearts from evil so that we will be pleasing to God.
Fr. Alex Osei
SSC-USA Spiritual Director