WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2024
WEDNESDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME B
1 King 10:1-10
Mark 7:14-23
EXAMINING THE STATE OF OUR HEARTS AND THE THOUGHTS THAT FILL OUR HEARTS
Jesus in today’s reading is concerned with what fills our heart, what our hearts produces, since from the heart flows our actions and activities. The call is to examine the contents and desires of our hearts with the intention to cleanse and make our hearts better, holier and to aid us in purifying our thinkings, such that our decisions and lifestyle will be better.
For the Pharisees and the religious people of Jesus’ times, it is what goes into a person that makes the person unclean. It is what one eats that defiled him hence the many restrictions on what to eat and what not to eat. But here Jesus gives us a very different or opposite opinion of what actually defiles us.
For Jesus, It is not what we eat or what comes from the outside rather it is what comes from the inside that defiles us. So from the thought of a man comes all forms of evil intention as well as a good intentions. From the heart proceeds evils as well as good. The more reason we must work on our hearts, cleanse our hearts always, tame our hearts, and caution our hearts to always produce good actions.
Solomon the King had already made a request from God when asked to declare the intention of what he may need to govern the people. He declared a good intention asking for wisdom and understanding with knowledge and purity of life. With that, God granted him abundance of wisdom and also added to him, wealth and honor. Solomon was then able to administer his household beyond the imagination of all.
The visit of the Queen of Sheba was to verify if what she heard of Solomon’s wisdom, wealth and honour was true. And confessing to Solomon, Queen Sheba admitted to the greatness, perfect organization, wisdom and wellbeing of the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon was able to attain all these because of the cleanliness, sincerity and purity of his intentions when he assumed the office of the kingship of Israel.
He was clean of heart, pure in conscience and focused in action. All these flow from his heart that is pure and that nurses no evil. We can actually develop a clean and pure hearts when we eschew wickedness, become godly, develop single mindedness in life, and become focus in the things of God. Taming our hearts for good actions will eventually build up goodness around us.
Let us learn to think thoughts of goodness, progress and love and remove from our minds and hearts all evil intentions and wickedness. God will always bless and guide us for greater honour and blessings as Solomon was famous.
Heavenly Father, cleanse our hearts, direct our thoughts, purify our minds. May our hearts be filled with good intentions, holy thoughts, loving and godly desires. And May the thoughts of our hearts and these desires of our minds find favour before you Our God through Christ Jesus our Lord.
And May the soul of Rt Rev Msgr Stephen Uzomah rest in peace as we commit him to mother earth today. Amen
Fr Norbert Uchuno
