SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
16 FEBRUARY 2020
Saint
Matthew wrote his Gospel to Jewish Christians.
Because these new Christians had grown up with a deep respect for the
law and the prophets, they wanted to know how the new law of Jesus Christ
related to the Law of Moses. As Saint
Matthew records the words of Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, the answer is
very clear. Jesus has not come to
abolish the law or the prophets.
Instead, he has come to fulfill both the law and the prophets. That is why the ten commandments are still
operative in our faith tradition, and why we use them to examine our
consciences when we prepare to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
To make his
point clear, Jesus gives six specific examples.
We heard four today in the Gospel and will hear the other two next
Sunday. His new law demands much more
than the external obedience required by the scribes and Pharisees. His first example is based on the fifth
commandment. He insists that his
disciples should not only avoid the sin of murder, but deal with the motives
and thoughts and attitudes that might lead someone to kill another person. We who are his disciples are prohibited from
taking the life of an unborn child in the womb or a terminally ill person. Even if we have not committed these sins, we
have killed the reputations of other people by spreading slander and gossip and
lies. We can harbor resentments and
bitter feelings that fester and affect the way we treat other people. Jesus is so insistent on eliminating these
poisons that he tells us to reconcile with others before we bring our gifts to
the Altar. That is why we offer the sign
of peace before approaching the Eucharist.
Exchanging the sign of peace signals our willingness to be reconciled
with those whom we have alienated.
His second
example comes from the sixth commandment.
Not only must we avoid committing the sin of adultery, but we must also
be careful about the lustful thoughts that lead us to use the gift of our
sexuality in a selfish way. Thankfully,
we do not take literally his statement about gouging out our eyes and cutting
off our hands. Otherwise, we would all
be walking around blind and without our limbs.
But we need to take seriously his warning. We need to apply a surgeon’s knife and cut
out whatever might lead us to sin. In an
age where pornography is so prevalent and so easily available on line, the Lord
challenges us to cut out those sources of temptation that can lead us to
objectify the bodies of other people.
His third
example comes from the law. The Law of
Moses allowed divorce. However, only the
husband could file for divorce. The wife
had absolutely no say in the manner. Too
many men used this power for selfish reasons, to the detriment of their
wives. Jesus calls his disciples to
regard marriage as a permanent bond, broken only by death. This challenge is at the heart of our
Catholic belief that a civil divorce does not end a valid bond of marriage.
His fourth
example comes from the prohibition in the Law of Moses from taking false
oaths. Jesus tells us that we do not
need to take any oath. We need to mean
“yes” when we say “yes” and “no” when we mean “no.” In a culture which seems to have little
regard for any kind of objective truth, we can see the complete confusion of
not knowing whom we can believe.
Jesus calls
us, his disciples, to a much higher law.
It is a law of love, given to us by the Lord’s own complete gift of his
life for us on the cross. We can reflect
on these demands of the Lord’s law of love.
A week from Wednesday, we will enter the Season of Lent. Our disciplines of prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving provide specific ways of acknowledging our failure to love. They provide strength to better imitate the
Lord’s love for us. Then, we can readily
renew our baptismal promises at Easter.
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