Wednesday 11 February 2026
Our Lady of Lourdes
1 Kings 10:1-10. The mouths of the just murmur wisdom – Ps 36(37):5-6, 30-31, 39-40. Mark 7:14-23.
Heart of the human condition
In the Art Gallery of NSW there is a vast painting by Sir Edward John Poynter called ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’. It captures in oil what 1 Kings paints in words: the King spared no expense. The Queen was ‘breathless with amazement’. She returned his favours with gold, spices and precious stones ‘in abundance’. True, she also tested his wisdom, so the entire affair was not merely meretricious. In contrast today, the Gospel message of Jesus spurns the value of externals and goes, literally, to the ‘heart’ of the human condition. Jesus proclaims that we need not fear corruption from unclean food. No, Jesus declares, immorality is part of the interior world of humanity. By so doing, he set us free from inhibiting food laws and also, over time, prompted greater and greater study of what we now call psychology. So, eat, drink – but ponder.
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