Mark 7:1-8;14-15;21-23 | David Johnson | Ordinary Time | September 2, 2018

Jesus' stern response to the Pharisees' criticism that His followers didn't adequately follow Jewish rituals of cleansing, contending that "it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly; all these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." Jesus confronts the temple system that excluded people of poverty who couldn't afford the requisite external washings; and He confronts our own religious propensities to put on a good show while our heart grows cold and we simply go through the motions -- of marriage, job, church -- and ignore the heart that He longs to warm and cleanse. Jesus' statements like this occur throughout the Gospels and have been foundational for Open Door for years, inviting us to "get out here what's inside" and to pay attention to the interior "heart work" rather than "polish the outside of the cup and of the dish" while the inside remains "full of robbery and self-indulgence."