Look Inside
Friends in Christ,
It is not uncommon for us, to try and blame our own, inner failures on external things. ‘My husband just provokes me to anger all the time.’ ‘If I didn’t have these irritating neighbors, I would be calm, everything would be fine.’ ‘I would be pure in our relationship, if my girlfriend would only stop leading me down the wrong path.’ ‘I could be holy if only I had a decent Church in my neighborhood.’ If, if, if…
We want to blame our own sins and failures on externals, on things other than ourselves. We might call this a form of ‘rationalization.’ Our Lord today says ‘no’ to this thinking. He says that it is from within the heart that come ‘evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, envy, blasphemy, arrogance. All these evils come from within.’ William Barclay says, ‘this is a truly terrible list which Jesus cites, of the things that come from the human heart. It is a call to an honest self-examination of our own souls.’
No matter what situation we are in, no matter the externals of our life: family situation, work situation, THAT person who is against us – the Lord gives us the grace that we need to walk serenely and calmly through life, praying for our enemies, praying for help in time of temptation, keeping order and calm in our own, inner world.
St. Josemaria says,[i] we can be ‘immersed in the world, with hungry lions all around, yet never losing our peace, never forgetting that the Lord will work all the miracles we need, if and when we need them. If we are humble, and call on the Lord in every temptation and every situation, then ‘we will be safe in any environment. Jesus wants us to be full of honesty with ourselves, and never blame external things or circumstances for our own failures.
It is from within the human heart that comes the start of any sin. That means, that, relying on God, we can conquer every trial in our life: As the Apostle says, ‘I can do all things, in him who strengthens me.
[i] Friends of God, p. 153.