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Mk 7:14-23
From within the man,
from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed,
malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils
come from within and they defile.
God gave us beautiful hearts, capable of magnifying His love
to all we encounter. Through these hearts, we find passion. We create. We love.
We live.
But God also gave us free will. Both a blessing and a curse,
free will allows us to actualize our heart’s desires. We’re not just robots on
some pre-destined, uncontrollable route to the grave. We control the route we
take.
Our Father could keep us like puppets on His string, but
instead, He trusts us with free will. He allows us to choose whether or not we
want to live life beside Him. And when we do, when the will of our hearts is
aligned with the will of God, perfect harmony ensues. We’re living the life He
wants for us, a life that—although not devoid of tribulation—is rooted in
Christ and can overcome any trial.
The discord comes, however, when our hearts stray, when we
abuse free will and turn away. Our paths
no longer point to Christ and the evil within our hearts creeps out without Him
to combat it. The devil now guides our actions. All the vices and sins this
gospel passage speaks about surface. God is left chasing after us trying to
pick up the pieces we savagely tear apart and throw in our wake.
It’s important for us to be aware of the evil capacities of
our own hearts. It’s the reason we see war, oppression, violence, slavery to
sin, death, and more. Men created with a good purpose allow the devil to win
the battle for their heart. Their view of God becomes distorted and evil
springs forth within them. No one forces it upon them; rather, quite ironically,
it is through their very own freedom that
they enslave themselves to their sins.
It’s a danger that always follows close behind the path of a
Christian. Our sin and our selfishness, the devil within our own hearts, wishes
to watch us abuse God’s gift of free will. The devil wants to see us crash and
burn. And the faster we run toward
Christ, the harder he tries to trip us up. That’s why being a Christian is
never easy.
If you set heaven as your goal, getting there won’t be a
walk in the park. Each time you think you’ve finally figured God out, something
will come and knock you off your high horse, something that can either cause
you to turn to God for comfort or away from Him and toward false, fading
comfort.
Within your heart, undoubtedly, evil will creep up. It’s a
fact of humanity we can’t deny. It will be tempting to say yes, but it will
harm your connection to Christ. And each subsequent denial of your purpose is
like cutting another cord that links you to God. So how, then, do we combat it?
How do we keep this connection intact? How, as Christians,
can we fight the good fight and resist the evil within us that will undoubtedly
attempt to surface?
A relationship with God and a relationship with others are
key. There are countless ways to go about this, but I’d like to share with you
a method that has worked wonders for my faith community.
Prayer buddies. My youth minister (featured in Fr. Alfonse's Jan. 16
post “The Leper and a Catholic Hater”) proposed this idea a few months ago as a
means of making us more comfortable praying. Three people pray three days a
week for three intentions. You can meet, call, or text. Since we’re on
different schedules, my group texts. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, we
send three intentions and all pray for each intention. That’s 9 people prayed
for (by three people) in one day. 27 per week. 108 per month!!!! 108. Crazy. Just
think of the effect this system could have if any of you reading this gave it a
shot, too. (And this is Fr. Alfonse’s blog, so there must be a lot of people
reading. Thousands of prayers each month….now THAT is powerful.)
This practice is not only an awesome way to expand the power
of prayer, but also a way to stay focused on Christ. Each week since we began,
I find myself looking for people in need of prayers. I’m more receptive to
others’ needs. And I’m more willing to share my own struggles when sometimes
I’m the one in need of prayers.
A mere group text has become, for us, a prayer community.
It’s hard to let evil seep in when you’re reminded each day to spot those in
need of God’s love.
Combat the evil within your own heart. Pray. Pray for your
own strength and the strength of those around you. It will be hard to maintain
a close relationship with Christ. It will be hard to keep the evil from
surfacing. But with a Savior who never stops loving you and a faith community
who recognizes the power of prayer, you’ll find all the strength you need.
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