There once was a young apprentice who worked for a master jeweler known for creating the most exquisite and valuable pieces. One day, the master presented the apprentice with two rough stones: one large and shiny, the other small and dull. He asked the apprentice to choose which one he thought was more valuable.

The apprentice quickly picked the larger, shinier stone, assuming that its size and appearance made it more precious. The master jeweler smiled and then took a chisel to both stones. When he cracked open the shiny stone, it revealed nothing but ordinary rock inside. But when he opened the smaller, dull stone, it glittered with a rare and beautiful gem hidden within.

The master explained, “It’s easy to be deceived by appearances. The true value lies not in what’s on the outside, but in what’s hidden within.”

There is a message in that story for all of us. It tells us that God cares more about what is going on inside of us than what mask we might wear on the outside. And that fact gives us a glimpse into the greatest desire of the Father for us: He wants our hearts. He wants us to invite Him into our hearts, to encounter His love and presence there. He wants to change our hearts intrinsically so that we can go from living boring, uninspiring lives to, instead, living as followers of His Son on fire with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to be people who inspire others to live for Him.

In the Gospel today, we see Jesus addressing the Scribes and Pharisees, calling them to task for being more concerned with the external rituals of purity than with the purity of the heart. The Lord challenges them, quoting Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me” (Mk 7:6-7).

He is doing something that He would consistently do throughout His public ministry. He is bringing the leaders of the Jewish people to a recognition that God is very much aware of their hypocrisy. They are so focused on perception that they’re missing the point of worship. They think that true worship of God is done by following a certain set of rules and regulations. That mentality caused them to become stuck in their ways, placing undue burdens on people, and failing to lead others to a relationship with God. In fact, they achieved the opposite; they led others away from God.

How often do we fall into a similar trap? On so many occasions (and I know this to be true because it happens to me a lot), we put God in a box. We think that He will only act in our lives, in the lives of our families, or in the world if we pray a certain way, attend Mass every week, go to confession regularly, pray the rosary every day, or do that special novena. While those types of prayer and worship are good and holy acts and we are, in some cases, obligated to do them, if that’s all our prayer life entails, y’all, we’re doing it wrong. So often, we stay stuck on performing those external acts and we never take our prayer life to the next step. In a sense, we can get so lost in the ritual of praying that we miss the point of Jesus, of the Father wanting us to have a unique and deeply personal relationship with Him.

Whenever we fail to have that type of relationship with God, it’s no wonder that we’re not being truly being fed and nourished when we come to Mass; it’s no wonder that we find Mass boring. It’s no wonder that we don’t leave this place completely and totally changed each and every Sunday. We sometimes sit here (and, again, I’m guilty of this one, too) and we listen to the words of Scripture being proclaimed; we might think, “Wow, Father, what a great homily”; but do we let the message sink in? Do we let it change us? If we’re being honest with ourselves, we don’t always. That’s where the Lord wants to challenge us today. God wants our hearts.

In just a few moments, we will come forward to receive the Lord in the Eucharist. When we receive Him, let’s ask Him for the grace of opening our hearts to Him in a more meaningful way. Ask Him to reveal His love for us and to take us deeper into relationship with Him. Just like the apprentice in the story that I shared learned…it doesn’t matter what the exterior looks like…what matters to God is what is on the inside. He wants us to give Him our hearts…will we do that today?

Image: Heart marker, Michael Fenton. Used under Unsplash license.

Readings of the Day