Today we are challenged by Jesus to face ourselves and acknowledge the source of things unclean - not things outside of us that we can blame such as the food we might or not eat, but rather the negative intentions that reside in our hearts. Jewish law was very particular about food and the manner in which it was to be prepared and eaten and some took this to the extremes without enough thought as to why these laws were there in the first place. The letter of the law rather than its spirit became the driving force. In the process, things became distorted and the responsibility for negative things shifted outwards.

Looking inside of us might be difficult. We might discover that we are not as nice as we might have thought ourselves to be. However the reverse could also be true if we have a poor self-image and we might have pleasant surprises in store of us.

Whatever it is, we cannot run away from ourselves and must at some point face ourselves squarely and honestly. Only with a true picture of ourselves can change begin.