Wednesday February 8, 2006 (Audio) Homily by Fr. Robert Altier Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading (1 Kings 10:1-10) Gospel (St. Mark 7:14-23)
Our Lord tells us today that it is from within the heart that come the
things which will defile us. And so it is all the evil things that we have
stored up within. This is why it is so critically important that we are willing
to open our hearts and allow Our Lord into our hearts in prayer, so that these
things can be purified, so that they can be removed from within us. But, of
course, the problem we all face is that we are afraid to look at these things.
They are not pleasant. We do not like to think of ourselves in ways that are
not good, and we do not like to have to deal with this stuff. Yet, at the same
time, if we realize that this is really there, why would we want to keep it
there?
Sometimes people like to keep it there because they like the sin, but
that is not a good reason if we are going to claim to be Christian people. If
we are going to be followers of the Lord, we have to get rid of everything that
is not of God. We realize that to open our hearts means that all of those
wounds in there are going to be exposed, but those need to be healed also,
because if they are not, what we do is keep Jesus at an arm’s distance. We do
not allow Him into our hearts and we do not love Him with our hearts because we
are afraid to let Him in, we are afraid we are going to get hurt, and we are
afraid He is going to tell us that we have to change our lives.
Well, He is not going to hurt us; we can be guaranteed of that. He will
tell us to change our lives; we can be guaranteed of that too. But it does not
necessarily mean external changes, because many of us are pretty good at hiding
these ugly things that are inside and so the external parts seem to be pretty
good. But it is what is on the inside that needs to change. The dispositions,
the desires, the attitudes, all of these sorts of things need to change. In
doing so, of course, the external things will change to some degree. We will be
far more peaceful, we will be more gentle, we will be more charitable, and all
these different virtues that we need to work on.
The fact of the matter is that if any of these ugly things are inside,
they are going to be causing us problems. Even if we do not act on them
externally, they are still there. For instance, Our Lord talks about
unchastity. If there is an individual that has an unchaste spirit inside, what
happens? It does not mean that he is going to commit adultery, but it means
that he may be looking at persons of the opposite sex in an inappropriate way.
It may mean that he is desiring somebody in an inappropriate way. It does not
mean he is actually going to do something physically, but you can see the
disposition. It is playing with fire. It is not good because if we are going to
allow those things to be there, number one, there is a possibility that we
might act on it; and, number two, we have to recognize that these things are
sins in and of themselves. It may not be as big of a sin as if we actually carried
out what the desire might be, but the fact is that these things are in and of
themselves sinful – and they need to go.
We are called to be holy. We are not called to look holy. We are not called to act holy. We are called to be holy. That
is what God wants from us. We need to get rid of everything that will defile
us, everything that strips us of holiness, and that is what comes from the
heart. That is why we need to be willing to open our hearts in prayer. We need
to face the painful things and the ugly things that are in there because Our
Lord wants to make our hearts similar to His and there is nothing ugly in His
heart. There is nothing there that is painful, so we have to work on the wounds
so they can heal. We need to get rid of these things that defile us, so that we
can be truly holy, so that the things which come from within are things of
Christ. In this way, we will not only act holy, but we will truly be holy. Then
we will have true freedom.
If we do not allow the Lord into our hearts and we keep all of these
things in, we are slaves to all of these things. We do not have control over
them. The dispositions and the attitudes and the desires, they are going to pop
up whether you want them to be there or not. But if we can work on them and get
rid of them, then we are free. We are no longer slaves to these ugly things
that are within. So it is all to our benefit. Not only do we get rid of the
things that defile us, but it gives us a more pure heart so that we can love
God and love neighbor more perfectly, so that we can be at peace, and so that
we can have the fulfillment for which we were created, so that we can be the
persons God made us to be.
That is what occurs if we are willing to let Him in. That is why we
need to come before Him every single day and sit ourselves down before Him in
prayer and open our hearts and let Him in, so that He can heal us and purify us
so that we can love more perfectly.
* This text was
transcribed from the audio recording of a homily by Father Robert Altier with minimal editing.