Lent steadily leads the soul from the noise of habit to the clarity of truth. The liturgy of this Wednesday places before us two penetrating passages: the giving of the commandments concerning honor and worship (Ex 20:12–24), and Our Lord’s correction of the Pharisees regarding human traditions and the purity of the heart (Mt 15:1–20). Together they illuminate a central Lenten lesson: true worship arises from obedience to God and purity of heart, not from external observances alone.
The Commandment of Honor and the Foundations of Worship
In Exodus we hear the solemn command:
“Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long-lived upon the land.” (Ex 20:12)
This command stands at the hinge between our duties toward God and toward neighbor. The Fathers saw in it not merely domestic obedience but a reflection of the divine order itself.
St. Thomas Aquinas, echoing the Fathers, explains that parents participate in God’s own authority because they are instruments of life and formation. St. Augustine similarly teaches that honoring parents trains the soul to recognize authority beyond itself:
“He who learns humility toward those who gave him earthly life will more easily submit himself to the Father who gives eternal life.”
— St. Augustine, Sermons
Thus the commandment forms the heart in reverence, which becomes the soil in which true worship grows.
The passage then moves quickly to the prohibition of idols and the instruction regarding the altar of sacrifice. God commands simplicity:
“An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me.” (Ex 20:24)
The Fathers saw this as a profound symbol. St. Gregory the Great writes that the altar of earth represents humility:
“The Lord wills an altar of earth because the sacrifice of prayer must rise from a humble heart.”
— Moralia in Job
True worship is not constructed from human pride or elaborate self-display; it rises from the humble soil of obedience.
The Pharisees and the Danger of Empty Tradition
In the Gospel, the Pharisees confront Christ about ritual handwashing. Their concern seems pious, but Our Lord reveals the deeper problem: they elevate human traditions above divine commandments.
“Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition?” (Mt 15:3)
Christ cites their neglect of the commandment to honor father and mother—the very commandment emphasized in the reading from Exodus.
St. John Chrysostom explains the severity of Christ’s rebuke:
“They accused the disciples for omitting a tradition; Christ accuses them for overthrowing the Law itself.”
— Homilies on Matthew
Their religious practice had become external, detached from charity and obedience.
What Truly Defiles a Man
Christ then teaches the crowd a truth that strikes at the root of hypocrisy:
“Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man: but what cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” (Mt 15:11)
The Lord is not abolishing discipline or ritual purity; rather He reveals that the source of sin lies within the heart.
St. Jerome comments:
“Food passes through the body and is cast out; but evil thoughts remain and stain the soul.”
— Commentary on Matthew
And St. Augustine deepens the point:
“The mouth speaks from the treasury of the heart. If the treasure be corrupt, the speech reveals the corruption.”
— Sermons
Thus Christ lists what truly defiles: evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, false witness, blasphemies. These proceed not from food or external contact, but from a heart estranged from God.
The Lenten Examination of the Heart
These readings together form a powerful Lenten mirror.
- Exodus calls us back to obedience and reverence.
- The Gospel warns against religion reduced to appearances.
One may keep external practices—fasting, abstinence, ritual observances—and yet harbor pride, resentment, or hypocrisy. The Pharisees kept many rules but neglected mercy and filial duty.
St. Hilary of Poitiers writes:
“The Law is fulfilled not by the appearance of devotion but by the truth of the heart.”
Lent therefore presses us inward. Fasting disciplines the body, but its purpose is the purification of the heart.
The Altar of Earth
Returning to the image from Exodus, the altar of earth offers a final meditation.
God desires a sacrifice rising from humble soil. The Christian soul itself must become that altar. St. Peter Chrysologus expresses this beautifully:
“Make your heart an altar, your faith the fire, and your prayer the sacrifice.”
In this way the readings converge: the commandment honored, the heart purified, and worship offered in humility.
A Lenten Prayer
O Lord,
cleanse the hidden places of our hearts.
Deliver us from the vanity of outward religion without inward conversion.
Teach us to honor Thy commandments above all human traditions,
and make of our humble hearts an altar pleasing to Thee.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.