Genesis 1:20 - 2:4 / Mark 7:1-13
Children are always thrilled with balloons.
More so if the balloons are filled with helium because they rise and you have to keep it attached to a string if you don't want to lose the helium balloons.
It might sound like a silly question if i were to ask this question : Which helium balloon will rise faster - the red, the green, the blue or the yellow coloured one?
Of course we will say that it is not the colour that mattered but what is inside the balloon.
That may be obvious to us, but in other matters, things may become blurred.
The gospel cites one instance of the emphasis on washing of hands but neglecting the purity of heart.
As Jesus puts it so profoundly - You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.
Yet the basis of the teachings of Jesus and His ministry is stated in the 1st reading.
We are all created in the image and likeness of God and it is this image and likeness that Jesus came to save and restore.
External appearances are necessary but they can never replace the internal essence of what we are made of and who made us.
May our words and actions flow from the essence of the image and likeness of God within us.