When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, ‘It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’ (Mark 7: 17-23)

For Jesus our essential character - our heart - is invulnerable to external influence. Our fundamental character, which we share with God, is inclined toward the good, true, and beautiful.

But we can make choices that twist and tear this essential character. Just as good food is transformed by our stomach and bowels, we can take what is good and make it disgusting.

Our internal motivations - the intention behind our choosing - can compromise and confuse the good with which we begin. Sex is good as an expression of love, but if we use it to assert power we have made it disgusting.

Admiring what another has honors them and can help us better understand our own needs. Theft occurs when an attitude of delight is replaced by the desire to control.

In all that we do our motivations and intentions either strengthen what we share with God or serve to separate us from God. What we intend will determine whether our actions are creative or destructive.