Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.

Appearances do not necessarily reflect one’s spirit. Just because someone’s appearance or outward actions turn us off, does not give us the right to judge them harshly. We do not know their hearts or the reasons they do what they do. Instead, we should focus on our interior lives. We know better than anyone else (except for God) what is in our hearts and if our hearts are full of sin, then our thoughts, words, and works will be full of sin, too. We will manifest our evil inclinations in a myriad of ways great and small. So let us focus our attention on keeping ourselves spiritually clean and not on judging others for the faults we see in them.

Do we judge others? What are our greatest sins? How can we cleanse ourselves of them?

O Lord, cleanse our hearts of all sin and imperfection.

Amen.