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Gospel Reflection 20060903

What Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ?September 3, 2006
Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds. So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God´s commandment but cling to human tradition." He summoned the crowd again and said to them, "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." 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."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, help me to confront your Gospel message today with openness and generosity. Lord, you know I have the danger of fulfilling empty rituals instead of putting you at the center of everything I do. I come to this prayer to please you and thus surrender myself to you.
Petition: Lord, give me confidence in the power of your grace.
1. Look at the Real Dangers. Christ feared nothing. He wasn’t afraid of Satan. He wasn’t afraid of public opinion. He wasn’t afraid of the narrow road and hard path. Even though it would cause him to sweat blood, he wasn’t even afraid to fulfill his Father’s plan for him as the Suffering Servant. Through his words and way of life, he was constantly encouraging his followers to watch out for dangers and to pray not to be put to the test. He knows that there are real dangers out there: “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away” (Matthew 5:29). “Woe to him who scandalizes one of these little ones” (cf. Matthew 18:6). “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees” (Matthew 16:6). “ Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat” (Luke 22:31). Christ will always point out for me the real dangers that exist in my life.
2. I Will Not Take Them from You. Christ clearly warns us, and our own experience confirms, that God normally will not remove these dangers from our lives. These dangers will usually remain whether they be exterior — “Father, I ask not that you remove them from this world” — or interior. When St. Paul would ask Christ to remove the thorn from his side, Christ simply replies, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). In the thick of these sufferings, it is hard for us to understand why God would permit them. But maybe we can find some reason in Christ’s words today. May it never be said of a Christian: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Suffering and hardship often keep our heart close to Christ.
3. I Will Give You the Grace to Overcome Them. Very much aware of both the internal and external dangers that would await them, Christ was not afraid of sending out his apostles into the world. He sends us out as “sheep among wolves” (cf. Matthew 10:16) into a world that will “hate you as it hated me” (cf. Matthew 24:9). He distributes his divine word and precious grace to the world through us, fragile earthen vessels. Through his Vicar on Earth, he tells us, “Be not afraid.” Moreover, he expects us to produce one-hundred fold and give fruits that will last. What is the key to his confidence? The key is the humble person who is ever ready look inwardly and purify his heart from the smallest attachment, the slightest impurity, making it an acceptable dwelling place for Christ. What…who…can separate us from the love of Christ? What is there to fear but those “evils that come from within and defile?”
Dialogue with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for reminding me about the beauty of being your friend, and at the same time about the awesome responsibility that goes along with it. Please give me the generosity to live my role as your mediator and ambassador, and help me to continually spread your message of love with my life, work, and all I do.
Resolution: I will set aside some time today and ask Christ to help me identify any attachments to sin in my heart. I will write them down and look for concrete ways to purify my heart from them.
REFLECTION
Once again Jesus reminds us that everything God makes is good but can be made evil by the unholy uses assigned by a mankind that is free to choose evil over good, to choose excess indulgence instead of prudence, and to choose selfishness rather than sharing. God also gave us the intellect and will to reject evil influences and continue to use good things for good works.
Washing hands was a spiritual event, not a sanitary precaution. They knew that our all-powerful God deserves to be approached by people who are clean. Unfortunately, they spent more time on physical cleanliness than on spiritual cleansing. The disciples drew criticism because they were apparently getting lax in the laws and traditions which had been adopted over the years. Many of their religious customs had the practical aspect of saving them from serious disease. Handwashing is still recognized as the greatest deterrent of all to the spread of disease. Washing dishes and putting clean linens on beds also help prevent the spread of germs. Improperly cooked pork is the source of a painful muscle disease caused by a worm which lives in the muscle of the living pig. Meat that is not properly bled and cured before cooking turns rancid quickly, growing salmonella food poisoning. Domestic animals such as cattle and sheep are safer to eat because of their controlled environment and periodic inspections for signs of disease.
The difficulty that Jesus points out is the result of mistaking simple human activities as acts of religious worship. This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, said the great Prophet Isaiah. There is a simple question which can be very revealing about someone’s level of spiritual maturity: Why do you go to Mass? A child who grudgingly obeys his parents may say, “Mom and Dad make me go.” Someone who attends Mass from a sense of duty may say, “The Church says I must.” Someone whose heart is not in it or does not really understand why, may say, “Because I gotta.” One who sees only the social aspect of a communal gathering may say, “Because my family goes.” Or “Because my friend goes.” When we finally meet Jesus as our Judge, He will look at our hearts, not our social proficiency.
What answer to this question might be given by one who has reached a desired level of maturity which makes him or her a truly adult Catholic? It could include some or all of: “It is my opportunity to worship my God who loves me, and to do it in the company of others who believe in Him, too. While I am there I can receive the real Body and Blood of Christ who died for my sins and take Him into my own body for awhile.”
Where do I fit on the scale of spiritual maturity?



Today’s gospel draws a clear line between what I call the ‘minimalists’ and the ‘maximalists’ in today’s religious world. To some, strictly obeying a set of moral and religious rules is what religion is all about. To others, just doing the least amount possible is all that counts. In other words, “What can I get away with and still be in God’s good graces”?
Parents here today will resonate with these words, which they have heard countless times from their children. “Do I have to”? And, this question is usually asked with a whine in their children’s voices. Personally, I hated that when my kids did it. Some of these children grow up with the same minimalist attitudes toward religion. They pester priests with questions like these. “Is it a sin, Father, to (fill in the blank)? Our vacation home is 48 miles from the nearest Catholic Church. Do we have to go to Mass on Sunday? Another priest told me that I had to (name it). What do you think, Father”? I could go on but you get the idea.
Minimalizers generally know all of the minimal obligations by heart. For example, they know (or think they know) how late they can come to Mass and how early they can leave and still get ‘credit’. Basically, these people know just how little they can get by with.
But, one thing that the minimalizers don’t know, however, is joy—especially the joy of knowing God’s love for us. If a person’s primary concern is to find out how little he/she needs to give to God and His Church, they will experience these ‘minimums’ not as joy, but as onerous and unpleasant burdens. Why—why is that?
It’s because these people put God on the edge of their lives. But, what they don’t realize is that, as long as they do that, God will always seem to be a threat to them—always impinging on their way of life—telling them what’s right and what’s wrong. Minimalists want to be the only captain of their ship. They don’t want God to be in charge.

And, that’s exactly how Jesus lived. Jesus didn’t worry about fulfilling His minimal duties as a good Jew. He never asked how little He had to do but how much He could do. Jesus was a person in love with God. No one in love ever asked, “Do I have to”?, when their beloved asked them to do something. People in love are happy to show their love through generosity and self-love.
So, if minimalism is the error of the lazy, maximalism is the error often found among the most religious people. It’s a sobering thought to realize that these were the people with whom Jesus was most severe.
Maximalists are the people who worry if knitting on a Sunday afternoon is breaking the commandment to rest on Sunday. They worry if they forget to pray the rosary that day. They worry about what other people wear to Church. In fact, given the opportunity, they would worry about anything and everything.
These people must realize that salvation and God’s love are things that can’t be ‘earned’. They are God’s free gift to us. He gives us these gifts not because we’ve earned them or that we are ‘good enough’ but because God is so good that He wants to share His love with us. Imagine that—our great and wonderful God wanting us to be with Him for ever. Maximalists have trouble imagining this fact.
The people who will be the most richly rewarded in heaven are those who never stop and think about what they deserve, because they are so keenly aware of their own spiritual inadequacies. They realize that they don’t deserve anything, let alone eternal happiness.
If we want to experience God’s love and generosity (and, if we think about it, who doesn’t?), we have to stand before Him with humility—realizing that we can’t do anything but accept God’s love with great thankfulness. There is nothing we can do to earn it—absolutely nothing.
Thanks be to God.


Joseph Cardinal Bernardine wrote an article about how a few young priests on retreat with him, challenged him about his prayer life. It was then that he realized that he was calling people to a level of holiness that he himself had not reached. He was allowing work and other distractions to take priority over his relationship with God. The Cardinal said, “That day I let go of Joe Bernardine and grabbed onto the Lord.” From that day on he spent the first hour of everyday in prayer. I think we all witnessed in his life a man who was consistent both in his external and internal practices.
It is only in and through an intimate relationship with God that we can grow to be a person whose actions on the job, or in political office, or within the church, or wherever we are called, reflect the heart and mind of Jesus. That is what wholeness and holiness are all about!

There was a self-righteous Sunday school teacher who was lecturing his young charges on the importance of exemplary living. The teacher thrust out his chest and with his nose in the air arrogantly asked, "Now kids, why do people call me a Christian?"
There was silence in the room for a few moments, and then one young boy timidly raised his hand.
"YES?" bellowed the teacher.
"Probably because they don't know you," responded the boy.
Like the Pharisees in today's reading, this teacher was impressed with the outward trappings of "being religious." What would we find if we really got to know him? Jesus makes it clear in today's gospel that what people "show" is not always indicative of what is in their hearts.
As I sat in the drive through car wash, I looked at the inside of my old Mustang. The AC didn't work right, there were stains on the floor mat, a mystery fluid leaked out from under the hood somewhere, and there was an assortment of old trash in the back floorboard of the car. As I drove down the road, most folks would have seen a nice shiny car that looked good for it's age. I knew better. I knew it needed some serious work; a lot more than a quick trip through the car wash could perform.
"I ought to do something about this soon!" I thought to myself.
"Nope. It can wait a while longer. You don't drive this car that much anyway." I rationalized any sense of urgency away. I did remove the trash, but the stain, the broken AC, and the "mystery fluid" are still very much a part of the car driving experience.
That's when it hit me.
A lot of us, good and decent people that we are, go to church to keep up that nice "go to church" appearance on things. Rarely do we delve into the matter that God wants to accomplish in us. That's because this requires internal as well as external transformation. Some of us hope getting the outside clean and keeping appearances up will suffice for true spirituality. Deep down, however, we fear that if we let God in too close, if we open up our hearts and truly let him look inside us, then we will have to change significantly. Our pet hidden sins, our bits of pettiness, our grip on pride, our fits of self-centeredness suddenly are threatened.
Others of us have never really seen God's transformational power at work in the lives of real modern day people, so we don't really expect that God will do that kind of transformation within us. We end up settling for the appearance of faith without sharing in the experience of faith.
We forget that God specializes in the work of transformation. In fact, the Holy Spirit's major job description is transformation.
How do we open ourselves up to this transformational work of God's Spirit? While whole books are written to help us better understand this subject, let's focus on a handful of key targets to get us started.
1. COME TO CHRIST FOR SALVATION2. ASK GOD TO EMPOWER US WITH HIS SPIRIT3. SEEK GOD'S WILL IN HIS WORD4. PRAY, TRUSTING IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT.
Bottom line, God wants us to be cleansed, re-made, and empowered inside and out. He doesn't want us to settle for car wash Christianity when transformational Christianity is ours. Let's not sell ourselves short on this matter. Let's ask God to cleanse us and empower us thoroughly!
For those of us who call ourselves Christians, the crucial question may be this: Would we still deserve that designation if others really got to know us?
God’s Law or Man’s?The Second Vatican Council happened in the 1960s. I hardly noticed the changes that occurred after the Council closed in 1965. I was in graduate school then with tunnel vision set on trying to get out. This Council changed the way we had done church for 450 years. Core beliefs, were not changed but some of our rituals changed and dramatically altered how we do church.The position of the altar was changed from being against a wall to a position like this one. The priest no longer celebrated Mass with his back to us, but faced us. We began to celebrate the sacraments in our native language rather than in Latin. New prayers and scriptures readings were used during Mass. We were encouraged to work with other Christian churches instead of avoiding them. Even the diaconate was restored. These were major changes in the ways we did church, BUT not in our core beliefs.

By the time of Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes had accepted 613 sayings of the elders all the way back to Moses. They would not accept that the traditions of the elders was secondary and relative to the word of God.In today’s gospel, as Jesus is preparing his disciples to see themselves as the new Israel, the Pharisees and scribes challenge Jesus about his disciples eating a meal with unwashed hands, as required by ritual. Jesus tells them that core beliefs are more important than ritual. This is especially important for Matthew’s community, which is composed of both Hebrews and Gentiles because the Gentiles did not follow Jewish rituals. These rituals were a major obstacle for the mission among the Gentiles for which Jesus was preparing them. He wanted his new church to continue to grow.When Pope John the XXIII opened Vatican II Council, he said, “that the task of the Council must be to find ways which the Church can present itself to the world today and can reach into the hearts of men” and women. This is what God the Father wanted from the Hebrews and what Jesus wanted from his original disciples.Are we following core beliefs or letting rituals get in the way? If you are old enough to remember what it was like before Vatican II, have you moved on or are you stuck with old rituals? My Polish stepfather had a hard time with the Council’s changes. He always reminded me that, “God knows Polish, some Latin, and no English.”The Church calls us to unity, not uniformity. So, we aren’t in unity when our personal rituals are different than the majority of our parish. How are you about holding hands? How about bowing instead of genuflecting before receiving the Eucharist?God is more concerned with our purity of heart. Are we more concerned with what James told us: “to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world”? If people do not see us doing what we profess, than we should be called hypocrites, like the Pharisees were.Will there be more changes in rituals? You bet! Recently our parish made some changes in Mass called for by Rome. When we profess the Creed, we now say, “I believe” rather the “We believe.” We also began to differently handle the Eucharist on the altar at Communion time.The future will bring more changes as the culture of the world changes. The Hispanic community in the United States will eventually predominate. Africa and Asia are requesting the Vatican to make liturgical changes to incorporate their cultures.When we think that our way is the only way, we must remember that God wants all peoples. Since two thirds of the world is not Christian, God will allow rituals to change so that he can continue to build up his kingdom, just like Jesus did when he let the Gentiles know that they did not have to wash their hands before eating. If he had allowed that Jewish ritual to continue, his kingdom here on earth might have died out. At least most of us, who are descendents from Gentiles, would not be here.
This Sunday, the Gospel Reading talks about the hypocrisy of people who, like the Pharisees, maintain their exterior appearance clean while forgetting about the basics, purity of heart. The Pharisees observed Jesus’ disciples eating without first ritually washing their hands. So they asked him, “Why do your disciples eat with unclean hands instead of following the traditions of our elders?” The Pharisees were members of a Jewish sect that ostensibly complied with the requirements of the Law of Moses. They boasted about being better than others, putting them down and talking badly about them but, in reality, they, themselves, did not obey the Law. This was why Jesus called them hypocrites.
From Jesus’ times to today, we can see that things have not changed much. Even though we do not have the same traditions as the Jews, in our customs and our ways of doing things, there is hypocrisy. Many times we dress up in our finest, cleanest clothes to go to church, but, how about our soul? Have we taken the time to clean it up, just as we do our clothes, so that we can be presentable before God? What God expects from us is respect and faith. First we should think about clean and pure living and then about dressing up in pretty clothes to go to the house of the Lord. The two things go together. They complement each other and are pleasing to God.
In the Gospel Reading, the Lord tells the Pharisees, “Nothing that enters from the outside can defile a person; what does defile is what comes out from within.” Going around dressed up on the outside in our best clothes while being dirty with sin on the inside is an affront to God and to oneself.
We live in times during which there is more hypocrisy than when the Pharisees lived. Everything seems to be based on making us feel self-important. What seems to be important is showing everyone how important we are, how dignified we are, and, like the Pharisees, how much better we are than others. Let us think well about what the Gospel Reading tells us today. Jesus detested the dishonesty and hypocrisy of the Pharisees of his time and he detests the same things in us. He does not care whether we wash our hands or not. What is really important for him is that we do not dirty our hands with sin.



Point/Focus: As Catholics let us be known neither by our ritual nor our rules, but by the wisdom of God’s Word become flesh, wisdom consumed in this Eucharist and reflected in our lives when we leave.
I. Why do you Catholics stand and kneel and then sit and stand again so often in Church? What does all this Catholic aerobics mean?
A. And what are those three signs you make on yourself when the Gospel is proclaimed?
B. And why do you not do it all the same? Why does one Church stand when another one kneels? Why do some stand and others kneel when receiving Communion?
C. No doubt some of us think we know the answer. Some of us are as confused as non-Catholic visitors to our church.
D. The answers would take a long time, 2000 years of history, during which the early Church stood, no one knelt; while during other centuries when few received Communion, the majority came to watch and eventually adore on bended knee, Each practice reflects our faith in a different time of history; a different aspect of the truth of God daring to be intimate with us.
II. Be careful, however, as much as visitors to our Faith may inquire about these ritual practices, be careful of citing only the rule or the law as an answer.
A. In today’s Gospel the Pharisees are concerned about ritual practices, specifically about the tradition of washing hands before eating, not for purposes of hygiene but about ritual purity.
B. And Jesus warns them, criticizes them about trying to honor God by observing ritual and tradition, quoting or judging oneself by man-made laws, but reminds them again that God seeks our heart and desires to know our heart.
C. How sad that in today’s Church we are often divided over the language or the music of our ritual, over postures of worship or who ministers communion to us. Would not Jesus say it is not what we do externally or the ritual tradition we follow, but what lies in our heart, what comes out of from the center of us?
D. Even sadder is the use of the law or the commandments to judge another, blinding us to our own sin, too easily a sin of self righteousness, or using only the commandments as a minimum check list to see if we are okay with God.
III. Moses in the first reading does indeed speak of the Law but with a passion that often escapes us.
A. For him the commandments are not arbitrary rules of a capricious God, but a reflection of God’s wisdom.
B. He speaks of others observing Israel living out the commandments and commenting that Israel is a wise and intelligent people.
C. There is nothing oppressive but everything of freedom in this view of the law and even of the ritual of Passover which celebrates the freedom of God’s people.
D. But for the law and ritual to be truly wise they must, as the prophet says, be written on our hearts, otherwise, as Jesus preaches, what will come out of us will only add to the darkness and slavery of the world: evil thoughts, unchastity theft, envy, greed and all the rest that is anything but wisdom.
IV. Yes, no doubt, visitors to our Faith do indeed often have questions about what we do here in our ritual, but what if their questions were different: such as:
A. Why, in an age of sexual freedom, do you speak so often of chastity? Do you think God will condemn you for enjoying what God created? No, we have simply discovered the wisdom and even joy of sex when it is treated neither as a god or as an evil but as a wonderful gift when it honestly reflects true intimacy, committed life and an openness to new life as its fruit.
B. Why are you so against abortion and even now beginning to speak against the death penalty? Do you not have sympathy for women or ignore the justice due a murderer? No, we have learned that death is seldom if ever an answer. Further harm to a woman and the child she carries is hardly a help nor is acting from revenge or punishment that only imitates the crime we condemn.
C. And imagine if they ask why we so satisfied with what we have or seldom seek out the latest fade or fashion or rush to the next sale…do you have something against material things. Imagine if our answer was: No, everything created is good, we simply prefer the wisdom of not being possessed by our possessions and strive rather to share from our bounty with others.
E. Then why, they ask, does your Church ask so often for money, why the collections for missions, for Indians, for charities, is it always about money in your Church? Isn’t it about greed? No, it is simply that religion pure and simple is caring for orphans, widows and all who are afflicted.
D. And the reason for all this is neither a philosophy nor a law or a rule, but because we have tasted the wisdom of God. As James says, the word has been planted within us.
V. But such questions are not as easy to deal with as questions about our Catholic ritual.
A. Yet here in ritual is where it happens, here is where the Word is no longer an idea or a law or a rule, but the very Wisdom of God become flesh in Jesus Christ, and what we do, whether we stand or kneel, is to come forward to eat of such wisdom that we may day by day, month by month, year by year, become the Wisdom we consume.
B. Perhaps it is as simple as (preacher signs himself): May the Lord be in my mind, on my lips and in my heart.

It was Thursday around 4:00 p.m. and my stomach was reminding me that supper was near, when Margaret knocked on my door asking for a moment of my time. I was eager to find out what she wanted so I invited her in and we began to talk. Tears welled up in her as she shared that she felt so lonely and unworthy of any meaningful relationships. She felt that no one wanted to be with her and she has been having thoughts that her life would be better if she no longer was alive. No one would miss her!
Some of us can identify with Margaret because we have been at that point or we know someone who has contemplated suicide. The scripture today can give us hope if we listen closely to what is being said about who you are and who God is.
We just heard Jesus say, "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." This sounds so condemning but it is truth.
Where does this evil come from that Jesus talks about? Why have humans become capable of such thoughts and actions? It comes from the disposition of our subconscious. When Jesus said heart, today we would describe our heart as our subconscious mind. When our subconscious mind has been formed to react to life in a negative way then we can do extreme evil. On the other hand if our subconscious has been formed in a positive way then our reaction to life situations brings healing and mercy.
How is our subconscious formed? Can it be changed? We begin our formation in our mother’s womb and the emotional environments, which surrounds us impacts how we feel about ourselves. Let’s say your mother or father is in some type of crises and they are seeing everything in the worst scenario. Mom could be depressed about her pregnancy and dad is distressed about our life. What I may understand in the womb is that I am not wanted. That I am a problem. Your understanding of who you are is beginning to take shape.
Then in our formative years after birth we hear you are a good little boy or girl "if you" do a certain thing or you are a bad little girl or boy "if you" act in a certain way. What we hear in our subconscious is "if you do, then you are loved." In fact this may not be what is being said to us but this what we understand. A couple examples would be: "If you make your bed then mommy and daddy are happy" or "Stop hitting your sister, you bad boy." I could give many other examples but I know you get the point. The child begins to form an opinion about who they are. I am good or lovable "IF".
So here we are all of us to some degree or other buying into the lie that love is always conditional. How does one get out of this mess we find ourselves in? Saint James said in the second reading: "He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of first fruits of his creatures." Give us life by the word of truth. What does this mean? What is the word of truth?
The truth is that God has created each of us at the moment of our conception, good and lovable. We know that a lie is feed to us by others (not because they don’t like us but because of the lie in their life) that we are not wanted. We are not good enough. We are not lovable. These are all lies. In the first reading today we hear that: "Our God is close to us whenever we call upon him" The Church has been calling upon God in our sacramental life. We come to be baptized so that the waters that wash us clean can break the Lie of the original sin of our first parents who believed they had to be like God in order to be loved. The Church believes that we come into a family, a community who know the truth of God’s great love and mercy. I must admit we fall very short of being this community of love. Yet that is our call because that is how God has created us to be.
I shared this truth of God’s unconditional love with Margaret. In all sincerity she said I hear these words and I have heard them before but I cannot make them come from by head into my heart. I want to believe but I can’t. What needs to happen for her is that she needs to be healed in her subconscious mind. This may take some time in spiritual counseling affirming her goodness and lovability.
Others are healed as they hear on a conscious level that they are good and lovable. It is the grace of love that transcends the entire lie and they are healed immediately because they now know the truth of who they are. They then can truly forgive all who have had any part of feeding them the lie and they can say as Jesus said: "Forgive them Father they know not what they do." If they only knew that I am your son or daughter they would never have lied to me. If they knew themselves, that they were good and lovable, they would never have passed this terrible lie on to me.
We come to this table to be nourished in the truth of Jesus Christ who came to show us the Father’s unconditional love. Do not let this moment of healing pass you by. Bring all the lies that you have passed on to others and bring them to the cross of Jesus. In the grace of God you are healing those you have wounded. Bring all the pain you have experienced because of the lie to the table of the Lord for His healing and mercy.
"Hear me, all of you, and understand."

posted by Mike Young @ 5:53 AM