Daily Catholic Lectio
Tue, 13 October 2026
XXVIII Week in Ordinary Time
Gal 5:1-6. Lk 11:37-41
Cleaning the Inside
A Pharisee invites Jesus to dine with him (Gospel reading). Jesus sits down at the table without using any sanitizer or any hand wash that claims to kill 99 percent of germs.
Jesus uses the occasion of not washing His hands to teach a lesson to those around Him. He tells them that inner purity is more important than outward cleanliness.
Moreover, in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus gives a beautiful way to cleanse the inside: “Give as alms what is inside, and then everything will be clean for you.”
A simple way to clean a vessel is to empty out everything inside it and give it away as alms. This is a revolutionary message. Instead of merely washing a vessel with soap, it is better to empty it generously until it becomes clean.
In today’s first reading (cf. Gal 5:1-6), Paul expresses the same idea: “What matters is faith working through love.” The faith I have must become visible through acts of love.
One way to clean my storeroom is to take out what is stored there and give it away to those in need. When I do this, not only does the storeroom become clean, but my heart is also cleansed from the dirt of greed. When I give away what is in my vessel, my selfishness and my excessive attachment to food also begin to disappear.
How beautiful it would be if, together with my vessel, my heart too became clean!
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
A Yesni Prays Initiative
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