“A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence nor deprive me of your Holy Spirit”

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

1 kings 10:1-10

The queen of Sheba

 Heard about Solomon’s fame, and came to test him with difficult ques­tions.   She arrived in Jerusalem with a vast retinue and with camels loaded with spices, an abundance of gold and precious stones. When she came to Solo­mon, she told him all that she had on her mind   and Solomon answered all her questions.

There was nothing that the king could not explain to her.  And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built,   the food on his table, the residence of his officials, the attendance of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings which he offered at Yahweh’s House, it left her breathless.

 Then she said to the king, “All that I heard in my own land concerning you and your wisdom was true.   But I did not believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. And what did I see! I was told only half the story; for your wisdom and wealth surpass the report I heard.

 Fortunate are your wives! Fortunate are your servants who are ever in your presence and hear your wisdom!   Blessed be Yahweh your God, who has looked kindly on you and has put you on the throne of Israel! Because of Yahweh’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king so that you may dispense justice and righteousness.”

 Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in abundance, and precious stones. Such an abundance of spices as those which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon was never again seen.

 

Ps 37:30-31, 39-40

The just man’s mouth utters wisdom.

 

    ＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊ 

Mark 7:14-23

 Jesus then called the people to him again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand.   Nothing that enters one from out­side can make that person unclean. It is what comes out from within that makes un­clean.  Let everyone who has ears listen.”

When Jesus got home and was away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about this saying   and he replied, “So even you are dull? Do you not see that whatever comes from outside cannot make a person unclean?   Since it enters, not the heart but the stomach and is finally passed out.”

Thus Jesus declared that all foods are clean.

 And he went on, “What comes out of a person is what defiles,  for evil designs come out of the heart: theft, murder,   adultery, jealousy, greed, maliciousness, deceit, indecency, slander, pride and folly.   All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Educating the Heart

What Jesus tells us today should give us pause and make us think about our system of education. Do we really educate our children in the culture of the heart, in the language of the Spirit? Do we teach them that it is what comes out of them –in terms of their thoughts, words, and actions-that define, their true self? Listen to Evelyn Underhill (The Essentials of Mysticism):

“The values at which [our education] aims are too often relative and self-interested….Its intelligent gaze is fixed too steadily on earthly society, earthly happiness. We encourage our young people to do the best things, but not always from the best motives…We forget that our duties ought to include the awakening of that clear consciousness of eternity which should be normal in every human being and without which it is ipossible for anyone to grasp impossible for anyone to grasp the true values and true proportion of life.”