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Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. (Mk. 7:14-15)
Recently, my adult children convinced me to watch the pop culture movie “Wicked.” As hesitant as I was to see it, I will say, the movie captured my attention. The songs were catchy and well sung, and the plot was engaging. For those who haven’t seen the movie, suffice it to say the story is a about how the wicked witch of the West came to be so…well, wicked. She didn’t start out that way, so the story goes. It wasn’t her. It was her circumstances.
So we, the audience, end up sympathetic to this misunderstood, green-skinned woman with a pointy hat. The truth is, on some level, we can relate to her. Sometimes we, too, lash out in anger in response to others who have provoked us. Sometimes our circumstances are truly unfair, and consequently, we succumb to anxiety or self-pity. Wounded people often cry out in pain. Wounded people tend to wound others.
And Jesus would agree: our envy, resentment, and anger don’t just spring up from nowhere. But Jesus also tells us from precisely where these miserable sentiments come, and it is not just from the people or circumstances who trigger them. Rather, these sentiments come from deep within our own human heart:
From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. (Mk. 7:21-22)
But isn’t it a little unmerciful not to be understanding of the circumstances that might have led us—or others—to sin? Of course the Lord of mercy understands; He understands them better than we understand them ourselves. However, in the words of my old spiritual director, Fr. Jim, such circumstances offer “an explanation, but not an excuse.” Just because the circumstances we have endured may have been exceedingly difficult does not give us license to respond to them without love in our hearts.
Let’s try to understand what this means.
All these evils come from within and they defile. (Mk. 7:23)
It is true, we cannot blame others for the unforgiveness, the anger, the resentment, or the envy that we carry in our hearts—even though we can easily point to the ways that others have mistreated us, betrayed us, or even acted with malice towards us. It might feel as though if it weren’t for them, we would carry no such misery in our hearts. There would be nothing we needed to let go of because it simply wouldn’t be there, right? But if we believe the words of Jesus, then our rationale would be flawed. Those who have provoked us to anger or resentment simply reveal what already lies hidden deep within our hearts.
How could our hearts be predisposed to such misery? Because this is the nature of original sin.
And yet, if we look more closely at Jesus’ words, we see that He has some good news for us too. His words are meant to enlighten us about our human condition, so that we can finally do something to change it. We cannot do anything to change that which we are not even aware.
In our struggle to forgive, to let go of anger, of resentment, or of envy, we are often like hamsters on a wheel, expending futile energy, but always ending up right back where we were before. Why? Because the way in which we have been struggling to set ourselves free has been hinging on the expectation that if only we pray hard enough, then it will be our offender who will change, and we who will feel better. But the things that defile are not things that go away based on what others choose to do. Nor do we measure what’s in our hearts only by how we “feel.”
So the question becomes: how do we set ourselves free of our misery if the answer is not necessarily to change our circumstances? According to Jesus, it seems the first thing we must do is to acknowledge the condition of our heart. Nobody “caused” us to be who we are, though perhaps their actions reveal a lot about us. Once we know and acknowledge our personal struggle, then what? What can we do to fix it? Nothing—by our own strength. So what hope is there for us? It is here we must look once again to the sweet words of Jesus, and this time, listen for His message of hope:
Everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile…But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
We have a human nature that tends towards sin (concupiscence) which we can do absolutely nothing about, and Jesus takes pity on us for this. But concupiscence alone does not “defile” us! It is our acting upon this nature that defiles. We might experience terrible envy towards another, which can feel torturous to our souls, so strong is the temptation, but our feelings do not determine our holiness. It is our choice to act (or not act) upon these feelings that can “defile”…or enable us to grow in holiness! It follows, then, that the greater the struggle, the more holy and pure of heart we have the opportunity to become.
Here on earth, “all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,” but from the perspective on eternity, “later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it” (Heb. 12:11). Even when the “discipline” is very great, let us not allow our misery to “come out” and defile us. Let us, instead, allow love to triumph, that we might grow to become the holy children of God we were created to be.
“If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and religious today.” – St. Josephine Bakhita
Photo by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash
