[10] He summoned the crowd and said to them, "Hear and understand. [11] It is not what enters one's mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one." [12] Then his disciples approached and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?" [13] He said in reply, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. [14] Let them alone; they are blind guides (of the blind). If a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a pit." [15] Then Peter said to him in reply, "Explain (this) parable to us." [16] He said to them, "Are even you still without understanding? [17] Do you not realize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? [18] But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. [19] For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. [20] These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile."
(CCC 2517) The heart is the seat of moral personality: "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication...." (Mt 15:19). The struggle against carnal covetousness entails purifying the heart and practicing temperance: Remain simple and innocent, and you will be like little children who do not know the evil that destroys man's life (Pastor Hermae, Mandate 2, 1: PG 2, 916). (CCC 1849) Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law" (St. Augustine, Contra Faustum 22: PL 42, 418; St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I-II, 71, 6). (CCC 1853) Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, as can every human act; or according to the virtues they oppose, by excess or defect; or according to the commandments they violate. They can also be classed according to whether they concern God, neighbor, or oneself; they can be divided into spiritual and carnal sins, or again as sins in thought, word, deed, or omission. The root of sin is in the heart of man, in his free will, according to the teaching of the Lord: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man" (Mt 15:19-20). But in the heart also resides charity, the source of the good and pure works, which sin wounds.
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