After Jesus has spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, "Oh, you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you."
The Gospel of the Lord.
Those who sincerely serve God must be pure and clean - not only outside but within as well.
Cardinal Carl Wotyla was entering the Sistine Chapel for the consistory that would choose the successor to John Paul I, Cardinal Wotyla was carrying Mao's little red book, the book of sayings. A fellow Cardinal observed this and upbraided the Cardinal for reading a communist work. Cardinal Wotyla responded, "My conscience is clear."
Santo Subito. That was the consistory which made him Pope John Paul II.
Mt. 5:17-18:
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophet. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments ill be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
The dietary laws of the Old Testament make sense today: wash your hands before eating (dirty hands carry disease), do not eat pork (the meat of animals with cloven hoofs, includes venison; trichinosis), do not eat shellfish (spoil readily).
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