15:10. And having called together the multitudes unto him, he said to them: Hear ye and understand.
15:11. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man: but what cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
Not that which goeth into, etc. . .No uncleanness in meat, nor any dirt contracted by eating it with unwashed hands, can defile the soul: but sin alone; or a disobedience of the heart to the ordinance and will of God. And thus when Adam took the forbidden fruit, it was not the apple, which entered into the mouth, but the disobedience to the law of God which defiled him. The same is to be said if a Jew, in the time of the old law, had eaten swine's flesh; or a Christian convert, in the days of the apostles, contrary to their ordinance, had eaten blood; or if any of the faithful at present should transgress the ordinance of God's church, by breaking the fasts: for in all these cases the soul would be defiled; not indeed by that which goeth into the mouth; but by the disobedience of the heart, in wilfully transgressing the ordinance of God, or of those who have their authority from him.
15:12. Then came his disciples, and said to him: Dost thou know that the Pharisees, when they heard this word, were scandalized?
15:13. But he answering, said: Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
15:14. Let them alone: they are blind, and leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit.
15:15. And Peter answering, said to him: Expound to us this parable.
15:16. But he said: Are you also yet without understanding?
15:17. Do you not understand, that whatsoever entereth into the mouth, goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the privy?
15:18. But the things which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart, and those things defile a man.