Every Sunday, we come together and hear these words, the words of Scripture, the living Word of God. And, these words are beautiful, inspiring and even, at times, challenging, but what happens when we leave? What happens when those words fall upon us, do we let them fall upon the ground, leaving them where they are, or do we become, as it says in our second reading “doers of the word,” and not just hearers? Because, when we become doers we let the word transform us, we let it permeate the entirety of our being, so that what enters in, as it were, comes back out.

And, not just in what we say, because we can say a lot of things, but, rather, in what we do and how we do it, we are defined as Christians by our actions and, ultimately, as Jesus makes graphically clear, if what is inside does not match what is outside, then, eventually, it will be known. For, while only God knows what is innermost in our soul, if it is not subject daily to the Father of lights with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change, as it says in our second reading, if it is not subject to the transforming power of Christ, then, as extreme as this sounds, the tendency exists for it to destroy us.

It is one of the few times where Jesus does not mince words, where He is serious and that seriousness is felt throughout, listing the worst that all of us are capable of, and telling us from whence that evil comes, not from without, for its origin is not there, but from within our very selves. For, as the prophet Jeremiah says elsewhere: “More tortuous than all else is the human heart.” That is why the greatest struggles we face in our lives, the greatest moral questions have their origin in the deepest recesses of our soul.

That is why holiness, true holiness requires repentance and conversion, a full turning of our mind, heart, body and soul towards God and Him alone, because, by doing so, what is within is transformed, what we are capable of is sanctified and those same evils that Jesus names are, in the end, replaced with grace, an abundance of grace, gifts of the Holy Spirit and virtues to help us, so that, in a very real sense, we no longer just listen to the word, but become doers in every possible way. For, as St. Josemaria Escriva beautifully puts it in his book The Way: “To reform. Every day a little. This has to be your constant task if you really want to become a saint.” So that what is within does not defile, as Jesus says, but rather makes us holy, bringing us each day a step closer to sanctification, a step closer, God-Willing, to becoming a saint.