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Reflecting upon my experiences at local grocery stores the past several years, I’ve noticed there’s been an exponential increase in the number of items labeled “organic.” Lots of people, it seems, don’t want any unnatural additives or preservatives entering their bodies. I’ve also noticed a new type of grocery store chain springing up—like Whole Foods and Super Fresh—which cater specifically to consumers who want to purchase food products at a premium price that are strictly organic and pure. Evidently, these consumers don’t want to introduce any “unnatural” agents—like additives or preservatives—into their bodies. Lastly, I’ve also noticed the amount of shelf space devoted to bottled water exponentially increasing. It apparently doesn’t even matter where the water comes from—Fiji, France, or even Poland Springs, Maine—because the labels all highlight the same adjective, “artesian,” as in “pure, artesian water.” Lots of people, it seems, don’t want anything but “pure” water entering their bodies. From a nutrition and health perspective, I suspect these changes are for the better. Yes, we should all do our very best to ensure that the food we eat and the water we drink are as natural and pure as possible. After all, too many unnatural additives and preservatives are likely to have negative consequences upon our overall health and well-being. So, we do need to be careful that we don’t defile our health by ingesting too many unnatural additives and preservatives or water that has been “purified,” that is, tainted with chemicals. But, there’s more! Do you remember—I do—when the first Surgeon General’s warning appeared on cigarette packages and cartons in 1966? The warning stated, “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous To Your Health.” Do you also remember when, in 1970, the warning was changed? It now stated: “The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.” In the small print, those dangers were enumerated to include: lung cancer, heart disease, and emphysema. The Surgeon General also warned expectant mothers that cigarette smoking may complicate pregnancy, lead to fetal injury, premature birth, or low birth weight. Those were stark warnings that should have caught the eyes of anyone who smoked or was contemplating taking up smoking, and especially any woman who was contemplating becoming a mother. The reason I remember those warnings wasn’t that I smoked or even considered smoking cigarettes. Never have and don’t know why. I have and do enjoy cigars, but I’ve never inhaled. I remember those stark warnings because my Mom smoked…just one Kent filtered cigarette each and every morning with a cup of coffee. Only once did I bring up the matter of the Surgeon General’s warning to my Mom and, in response, she claimed “just one cigarette each day isn’t what he is talking about.” And, perhaps she was correct or, maybe, just plain lucky. I don’t know which. But, she’s almost 80 years old and has never experienced any of those dangers the Surgeon General warned about. It’s odd to look back today and to see those old tobacco ads, movie stars smoking in the movies produced in the years and first decades following World War II, and to think back how cigarette smoking seemed so “natural,” even though parents did tell their teenage children not to smoke (I guess, like they did when they were teenagers!). Do you remember when restaurants and airplanes were first divided into “smoking” and “non-smoking” sections with the smoking section being larger than the non-smoking section and how the non-smoking section gradually grew larger and larger and the smoking section shrank by equal increments? Do you remember when smoking was banned from all national flights and eventually international flights as well? Do you remember when smokers in the workplace were forced to go outside of the workplace to smoke? Do you remember when city councils banned smoking altogether in all public places and spaces? All of this reflects a long-term effort to protect citizens from the alleged effects of “second-hand” smoke. Evidently, the carbon monoxide that smokers inhale defiles not only their own physical health but also defiles the physical health of others who are near, around, or live with smokers. Whether it’s the food we eat, the water we drink, or the quality of the air we inhale, many of us and our fellow citizens are very concerned about what enters our bodies from outside, almost to the point of obsession. However, in today’s gospel, Jesus states just the opposite: “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.” My point is not that we shouldn’t be careful about what we allow to enter our bodies, but that we should be even more careful about what is already inside of our bodies—our hearts—into which God has placed His word, as St. James reminded us in today’s second reading. Worrying about what’s coming out of our hearts—whether it’s what we say or what we do—is of paramount importance, spiritual speaking, because it’s what comes out of our hearts—as this is given expression in our words and actions—that reveals the quality and content of our character. When we spew forth immoral words and engage in immoral actions, we offend and cause injury to the spiritual health of other people, just like serving them unnatural additives and preservatives in food as well as second-hand smoke can offend and cause injury to their physical health. Our immoral words and actions are what defile, Jesus says. Why is it that we’re so concerned about what may cause physical harm but are almost absolutely unconcerned about what really has the power to cause grave spiritual harm, namely, what emerges from our hearts? Perhaps the most truthful answer is that it is easier to change those habits which are harmful to our physical health—what we eat and drink—than it is to change those habits which are harmful to our spiritual health—what we say and do. Yet, when our hearts are “in tune” with God, what emerges from within doesn’t defile. No, what emerges from our hearts proclaims something of God that is life-giving and nourishes the spiritual health of others. Let me share an example with you. Last April, when I was in Colorado Springs to celebrate my Dad’s 83rd birthday, I went with my Mom and sister on an afternoon “excursion” to walk the main thoroughfare in “old” Colorado Springs. You know, “the tourist thing” that, quite honestly, had the added benefit of getting my sister and me out of the house for a couple of hours. Upon entering one particular store that sold knickknacks inspired by Colorado sights and sounds, I heard some music playing in the background. The music—featuring a piano and orchestra—caught my attention. It did so not only because I had never heard this music before but also because it had what I detected to be a beautifully pastoral and contemplative quality. While the music caught the attention of my ears, it also caught the attention of my heart. I remember thinking to myself as I listened, “Whoever wrote that score must be a good or, even, holy person because what’s coming out of that person is beautiful and good.” So, with my interest piqued, I walked up to the counter and inquired of the saleswoman about the music playing in the background. She told me the music was written by a Colorado native, Steve Haun, then taking the CD out of the player and placing it into my hand for me to examine, the saleswoman also told me about his other CDs. We talked a bit about the spiritual quality of the music I had detected. Then, I dutifully wrote down all of the information so that, upon returning home, I could order Steve Haun’s CDs through Amazon.com. Which I did. Well, the day finally came when the UPS man showed up at the front door with the CDs. I opened the box and noted the title of the first CD, “No Trivial Moment.” After struggling to unwrap the jewel box and remove the security tab—that’s always such a pain—I put the CD into the player and cranked it up. “No Trivial Moment” wasn’t the CD I heard in that store in Colorado Springs, but it did reflect the same pastoral and contemplative quality that originally attracted the attention of my ears and heart. More importantly, I took the brochure out of the jewel box and began reading the contents which Steve Haun had written. Here’s what they said:
This music was
written to glorify God in the best way I know—with the gifts God has
given me. Every composition was written in inspiration of significant
people, events, moments, challenges, and changes in my life and the
significant ONE—God. Through the years I have learned that life should
be cherished and never taken for granted—there is no trivial moment. Do you see what God is up to and what Jesus is teaching? God touches our senses and, if our hearts are alert, we take in not what defiles our hearts but what is life-giving. And, furthermore, when we allow our hearts to be nourished by what is life-giving, what comes out of our hearts does not defile but proclaims to all the world something of God’s life and love. The music I had heard in that store was a reflection of those significant people, events, moments, challenges, and changes in Steve Haun’s life that revealed to him the significant One, God. All of that nourished Steve Haun’s heart in such a way that, in utilizing his talents, Steve Haun’s music now communicates something of God’s life-giving love to all the world (or, at least, those who purchase his CD’s). Had those significant people, events, moments, challenges, and changes not been life-giving but defiling and, had Steve Haun taken them in and nourished by them, the chances are that Steve Haun’s music would not be life-giving but defiling. Jesus tells his disciples that what comes out of our hearts—whether it’s through what we say or what we do—reveals the content and quality of our character. When we spew forth immoral words and engage in immoral actions, we offend and cause injury to the spiritual health of other people, just like serving them unnatural additives and preservatives as well as second-hand smoke can offend and cause injury to their physical health. “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from within and they defile,” Jesus said. The story is told of a woman who went to confession to St. Philip Neri, accusing herself of having spoken badly of some people. St. Philip absolved the woman of her sins against the eighth commandment, but gave her what appeared to the woman to be a rather strange penance. The confessor told the penitent to go home, to get a chicken, and return to him, plucking the chicken’s feathers along the way. When the woman finally returned, St. Philip said: “Now go back home and collect one by one all of the feathers that you let fall to the ground when you were coming here.” “That’s impossible!” the woman exclaimed. “The wind has blown the feathers in every direction.” “Now you see,” St. Philip said to the woman, “how impossible it is to take back uncharitable and false talk about other people once those words have left your lips.” It isn’t simply battling against gossip, being critical, talking behind the backs of people, or of making harsh and condemnatory judgments about people. That’s to battle against abusing words. It’s also about battling the attitudes we reveal as well as the behaviors we exhibit in our abusive actions. All of these can defile and are a poison that is exceedingly difficult to neutralize once we have spread it. So, the all-important spiritual question is: Why are we so concerned about what potentially may cause physical harm, but are almost absolutely unconcerned about what really defiles, namely, what emerges from our hearts? Once again, perhaps the most truthful answer is that it is easier to change those habits which are harmful to our physical health—what we eat and drink—than it is to change those habits which are harmful to our spiritual health—what we say and do. However, if we so choose, each and every one of us can utilize our talents—like Steve Haun—to communicate something of God’s life-giving love that nourishes and strengthens the spiritual health of other people. God has entrusted something good and beautiful to each of us—to be expressed each in our own unique and special way—that, when nourished by the life-giving witness of God’s love revealed in the people, events, moments, challenges, and changes of our lives, makes it possible for each and every one of us to bring something good and beautiful to the world. It truly is hypocritical if we call ourselves disciples and forget about what is basic, namely, purity of heart. As St. James reminded his congregation: “Be doers of the word and not hearers only.” Let God never say of us what Isaiah quoted God as saying of the Israelite nation, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” “Hear me, all of you, and understand,” Jesus said. “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”
A brief
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HOMILY
