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If you love truth, be a lover of silence. Silence, like the sunlight will illuminate you in God.
- St. Isaac - 7th Century Hermit
Monk
(Silence lets things settle within and brings perspective. How can you have more time for silence in your life?)
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Jer 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22; Ps 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23;
Mt. 15:1-2, 10-14
Some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?
They do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.”
He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand.
It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man;
but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.”
Then his disciples
approached and said to him,
“Do you know that the Pharisees took offense
when they heard what you said?”
He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted
will be uprooted.
Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.
If a blind man leads a blind man,
both will fall into a pit.”
UCCB Lectionary
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Reflection on the Scriptures |
Only God can change our hearts and make them clean and whole through the power of the Holy Spirit. Like a physician who probes the wound before treating it, God through his Word and Spirit first brings to light our sinful condition that we may recognize sin for what it is and call upon God’s mercy and pardon. The Lord is every ready to change and purify
our hearts through his Holy Spirit who dwells within us. His power and grace enables us to choose what is good and to reject what is evil. Do you believe in the power of God’s love to change and transform your heart?
“Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit and make my heart like yours. Strengthen my heart and
my will that I may I choose to love what is good and to hate what is evil.”
DailyScripture.net
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Precautions, by St. John of the Cross
Instruction and precautions necessary for anyone desiring to be a true religious and reach
perfection.
Against the Devil
10. The one who aspires to perfection should use three precautions to be
delivered from the devil, one’s second enemy. It should be noted that among the many wiles of the devil for deceiving spiritual persons, the most common is deceiving them under the appearance of good rather than of evil, for the devil already knows that they will scarcely choose a recognized evil. Thus you should always be suspicious of what appears good, especially when not obliged by obedience. To do the right thing, and be safe in such a matter, you ought to take the proper
counsel.
*The first precaution*
11. Let, then, the first precaution be that, without the command of obedience, you never take upon yourself any work — apart from the obligations of
your state — however good and full of charity it may seem, whether for yourself or for anyone else inside or outside the house. By such a practice you will win merit and security, avoid possession, and flee from harm and evils unknown to you, for God will one day demand an account. If you do not observe this precaution in little things as well as big, you will be unable to avoid the devil’s deceiving you to a small or great degree, no matter how right you think you are. Even if your negligence
amounts to no more than not being governed by obedience in all things, you culpably err, since God wants obedience more than sacrifice [1 Sm. 15:22]. The actions of religious are not their own, but belong to obedience, and if you withdraw them from obedience, you will have to count them as lost.
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