Clean Inside

The WORD today (see http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082818.cfm) reminds me how important it is to be clean inside.

It is easy to clean the outside. This is true with cars. There are a lot of carwash which provide cleaning services. And its relatively cheap.  You don't even need to go to a carwash. You can clean the car at home, and it won't take a lot of time and effort. However, what requires more time and effort is cleaning the inside of the car - the interior, the engine, among other things. That’s why they charge more for detailing and cleaning services, because it is harder and more time consuming than cleaning just the outside of the car.

This is what Jesus says in the gospel. We should not just focus on being clean outside, like the Pharisees who appear clean outside but very dirty inside. What is inside is more important than the outside, than what people see. 

Being clean inside would eventually be manifested outward. 

As with cars, what requires more time and effort and what is really important, is that we are clean from the inside. This is what Jesus wants us to do and to work on, not the easier exterior cleaning. 

Being clean outside does not mean that the inside is clean as well. It is easy to seem clean. It's easy to go to the church, go to outreach activities and relief operations, help the less fortunate. It's easy to show others you go to mass, confess and serve. However, this does not guarantee the inner state of the person. Jesus wants us to work harder and clean ourselves from the inside. What are our motives as we do these things? Do we do it for show, or because we really love God so much? 

Being clean inside may not be easily seen by others. In fact, it may never be seen by others. So affirmation and praise from people may not come. But God sees everything. God sees the inside - our intentions, motives and values. And having a clean heart, a clean soul, would eventually manifest to the outside. It will show by the way you talk, react, and deal with others.

What do I prioritize - being clean outside, where people can see and affirm, or do I work to clean the inside, the more important although unseen parts? Am I more concerned on pleasing others and getting affirmation and praise, or on pleasing God, no matter how silent and delayed his reward is? What areas of my life do I need to clean? 

May we work to have a clean heart, a clean spirit first. Clean and pure motives and intentions. May we pray for these, so that eventually, these things will be manifested in our actions. 

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for your reminder. Lord,sorry for the times I focus on the outside rather than the inside. Sorry for the times I feel contented with looking clean to others.  I pray that you help me have a clean heart. Purify my thoughts, purify my spirit, purify my heart, so that my actions would follow what is inside me. May my life be pleasing to you, and may I always give you importance, not other people. Amen. 

Blessed Day!

In Christ,

-g-

Daily Readings

August 28 , 2018

Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Lectionary: 426

Reading 1 2 THES 2:1-3A, 14-17

We ask you, brothers and sisters,
with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our assembling with him,
not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly,
or to be alarmed either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement,
or by a letter allegedly from us
to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.
Let no one deceive you in any way.

To this end he has also called you through our Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm
and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught,
either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them
in every good deed and word.

Responsorial Psalm PS 96:10, 11-12, 13

R. (13b) The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.

Alleluia HEB 4:12

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 23:23-26

Jesus said:
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.