The Clean Heart: From Empty Ritual to Authentic Worship

Rom 1:16-25, Psalm: 18, Lk 11:37-41

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

In our journey of faith, we can sometimes fall into a dangerous trap: the belief that external observance is enough. We can become experts in the rituals of religion while our hearts remain far from God. Today, the Word of God pierces through this illusion, calling us to a faith that is not a performance for others, but a transformative relationship with the living God.

In the Gospel, Jesus accepts an invitation to dine with a Pharisee, who is shocked that his guest does not perform the ceremonial washing before the meal. This was not about hygiene, but about adhering to a complex code of external purity. Jesus’ response is direct and challenging: “Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil.” He exposes the hypocrisy of a faith that is meticulous about minor regulations but neglects the weightier matters of justice and love. Then, He offers the solution: “But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

What does He mean? Jesus is not adding another external rule. He is revealing that inner purity is not achieved by scrubbing from the outside, but by an outpouring of love from the inside. Almsgiving, in its deepest sense, represents charity, mercy, and self-gift. When we give of ourselves for others, we cleanse our hearts of selfishness and pride. True cleanliness flows from a heart transformed by love.

This teaching finds a profound echo in St. Paul’s powerful letter to the Romans. He explains the root of all human disorder: the refusal to honor God as God. He describes a tragic exchange: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator.” This is the ultimate interior uncleanness. When we create things—wealth, power, prestige, pleasure—the ultimate goal of our lives is committing idolatry. Our hearts become darkened, and our worship becomes empty.

This is the state of the Pharisees in the Gospel. His idol was his own righteousness, his external purity. He was worshiping the ritual rather than the God to whom the ritual was meant to lead.

So, what is the way out? How do we cleanse the inside of the cup? Both readings point to the same path: a return to right worship. Paul proclaims that he is “not ashamed of the Gospel,” for “it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” The gospel—the good news of Jesus Christ—has the power to break the chains of idolatry and heal our darkened hearts. It calls us to repentance and faith.

Pope Francis often warns against this very hypocrisy, urging us to be a Church of mercy and encounter, not of cold rules. He says, “Jesus prefers a thousand times over a sinner who tries to draw near to his love, rather than a ‘righteous’ person who is presumptuous and closed off in their own self-sufficiency.”

The comfort for us today is that God desires to cleanse us from within. He does not demand that we arrive with a perfectly clean cup. He invites us, as He invited the Pharisee, to open our hearts to His transforming grace. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is God’s gift for this very purpose—to cleanse our inner selves.

Let us ask for the grace of self-knowledge, to see the ways we might be focused on external observance while neglecting the love of God and neighbor. And let us, with courage, ask the Lord to create a clean heart in us (Ps 51:12), a heart that worships Him in spirit and in truth, so that our entire lives, inside and out, may become an offering pleasing to Him. Amen.