Wednesday 12 February 2025
Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17. Bless the Lord, my soul! – Psalm 103(104):1-2, 27-30. Mark 7:14-23.
Soul nourishment
For the Ancient Egyptians, the heart contained a record of all the deceased’s actions in life and was weighed by the goddess Ma’at against a feather, the symbol for truth and justice. This helped determine whether the deceased person had indeed been virtuous.
Jesus also speaks of the heart as the source of both good and evil thoughts and deeds. He explained to the crowds in Mark’s Gospel that their concerns should be less about the food and drink they consume and more about how their hearts are formed and nurtured. The western preoccupation with degustation menus and careful calculations of calories leaves little room to consider what our hearts deeply long for. Perhaps we should spend just as much time carefully selecting those things that nourish our souls and deepen our ability to love one another.
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