2 September 2018
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus has taken one burden off of us, yet added another. He has freed us from the burden of worrying whether external things will make us holy. At the same time, we have been given a new concern: our own hearts. Jesus tells us that the source of uncleanness is, in fact, deep within each of us. Evil comes not from anything outside, but from our own hearts.
Few people portrayed the struggle between good and evil in each heart quite as beautifully as the Catholic author Flannery O’Connor. All of her stories present people who are flawed and have a certain emptiness in their hearts, while also being capable of conversion and goodness. Even the most repugnant of her characters is still a complex figure with a chance for conversion. The ones who take the chance and convert are the ones who are shaken by reality and recognize the lack in their own hearts.
If we are to convert, we must likewise be shaken by reality. A quick glance at the news shows no lack of evil in the world. But we must remember what Jesus says today: this evil comes from human hearts, hearts that are frighteningly similar to ours. Every sin we see comes from someone who could be us. If we see the wrongdoings of others in the world and think “I am above that,” we are like the scribes and Pharisees Jesus condemns, keeping sinners at arm’s length and thinking we are safe from sin. We must be shaken by reality, see the lacking in our hearts, and let God’s grace fill the gaps.