PARISH MASS

Eleventh Sunday after Trinity

Brothers and sisters,

Jesus famously clashed with the members of a strict Jewish sect called the Pharisees, and his disciples observed that the Pharisees often took offence at Jesus' teaching.

The Pharisees taught that practices like the ritual handwashing before meals were very important; that those who did the handwashing ritual were spiritually clean, and those who did not were not. And the Pharisees had previously noticed that Jesus' disciples did not always do the ritual washing.

But Jesus sees things differently. To him it is not whether we do the washing rituals or whether we eat specific things that make us spiritually clean or unclean, it is what is in our hearts that matters. It is out of the evil of our hearts that we say, think and do evil things; murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander... the list is endless.

Ritual, ceremony and tradition are not without worth, but on their own they do neither make us spiritually clean or unclean. It is our hearts that matter most, so let us give special attention to them.

Every blessing,

Fr Myles

Rector

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