I believe most of us would not want to appear unkempt or smell bad, especially when we are outside. Even in our homes, we would want to keep clean. We spend a lot of time and effort in our personal hygiene, so that our bodies would remain fresh, clean and healthy. But all these efforts are only concerning our bodies. How clean have we been keeping our soul? Have we been keeping our soul clean by going for confession regularly, to remove the sins we have committed?
In today’s reading, God cleansed His people from their iniquity and sins: “I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances. You will live in the land which I gave your ancestors. You shall be my people and I will be your God.” By doing so, God took the initiative to help His people remove their uncleanness and shepherd them so that they would grow and prosper as His people. In the same way, God is also wanting to remove the uncleanness from our soul, and we are invited and urged to do so by going for confession and doing penance. Are we going to allow God to cleanse us, or would we prefer to remain dirty?