February 12th 2017. SIXTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Matthew 5:17-37

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL Matthew 5:17-37

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish them but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.

‘For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.

‘You have learnt how it was said: You must not commit adultery. But I say this to you: if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye should cause you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to have your whole body thrown into hell. And if your right hand should cause you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to have your whole body go to hell.

‘It has also been said: Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal. But I say this to you: everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of fornication, makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

‘Again, you have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you: do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne; or by the earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great king. Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In this passage, Jesus presents us with the Gospel in its most radical form. The Old Testament Law had prohibitions on adultery, murder, deceitfulness, etc. Jesus tells us that he has come not to do away with this law but to fulfil it. And this fulfilment entails that not only is murder illicit, but so is anger towards my brother; not only is adultery illicit, but so is looking at another person with desire - every precept of the old law is transformed by Jesus into a purer and more radical form! But how am I expected to meet such rigorous obligations? There’s the rub! The Gospel that Jesus is presenting is not a list of moral demands or ethical precepts. The capacity to live this type of radical life is not a question of gritting my teeth and getting my act together. If my moral behaviour depended entirely on me, then I would be faithful for as long as it suited my purposes; I would be truthful insofar as the truth didn’t reflect badly on me; I would be kind to others to the extent that it brought benefits for me. If I continue to view the “demands” of Christianity as a code of ethics, then I will never understand what Jesus means in this Sunday’s Gospel, nor in any part of the Gospel! This Gospel can only be understood in the context of that which we celebrate at the Eucharist on Sunday – the death and resurrection of Jesus who submitted to the Father on behalf of us all and calls us into communion with him. Woe to us if we continue to think of Christianity as a moral doctrine to be understood and put into practice! If that were the case, there would be no need for Jesus to die on the cross for us. The Gospel is not simply ethical action but communion with Christ. What is needed is that we place our hands in the hands of Jesus, allow ourselves to be guided by him, unite ourselves daily with his death and resurrection. When we start living life in this way, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, then we begin to live the kind of life outlined in this Sunday’s Gospel.

The Gospel presents us with a radical perspective on morality. But how can I be expected to live according to such impossible demands?

This lengthy passage presents us with the message of the Gospel at its most radical. Jesus begins by saying that the Law of Moses is not being abolished but fulfilled. The Old Testament law is the external face of a newer, more radical, morality that is implanted in the heart. But how can my heart be made capable of following such radical precepts? How can I cease being angry with others? How can I attain the state of not even looking at another person with desire in my heart? How can I ensure that every word from my mouth is the pure and simple truth? These demands are enormous! To refrain from ever thinking that someone is stupid or crazy! To be filled with such respect for others that we never consider them in any carnal way! If we listen to this Gospel passage and then go out into the world expecting to be able to put it into practice, we are greatly mistaken! That is not how the Gospel works at all.

This Gospel should NOT be read as a series of moral prescriptions

In this passage, Jesus presents us with a vision of life itself, the kind of life that only he can give. Without the Lord Jesus, the best we can do is aspire to live in this way. The most we can achieve is the longing to be able to live with others in complete harmony, communion and purity of heart. Today the indissoluble nature of marriage is something that is completely denied by our culture. The common mentality is that relationships can be disposed of whenever they become inconvenient. In the area of communication, the emphasis on the freedom to say what I like makes a mockery of the notion that everything I say ought to be purely sincere and true. The radical nature of what Jesus is proposing seems so demanding that we risk becoming neurotic if we tried to put it all into practice. And this is the key to understanding the passage. It is not a series of prescriptions that we are expected to follow using our own limited capacities.

Without the life of Jesus within us we are ethical only insofar as it suits us to be ethical

Let us allow ourselves to be guided by the first reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus. “The Lord sets before you today fire and water, life and death.” In other words, the choice we have before us is not to be just or to be unjust, to act ethically or unethically. The choice before us is the choice between life and death; having an existence that is life-filled, or an existence that plays itself out under the shadow of death. If I live just for myself, for my own survival, for my own wellbeing, then I will be faithful only as long as it suits me to be faithful; I will be kind to others only if there is something in it for me; I will be truthful only if the truth does not reflect badly on me. My priority is myself. This passage, therefore, cannot be read as an abstract ethical or philosophical discourse. It must be read in the context of the Eucharistic liturgy we celebrate on Sunday, which proclaims the self-giving of Christ for us. By virtue of his life, death and resurrection we are given the power to live this kind of “impossible” life.

It is the death and resurrection of Jesus that gives us life and permits us to live the kind of life described in Sunday’s Gospel

Outside of this context we not only fail to understand this Gospel, we fail to understand any Gospel. To understand the Gospel we must open our hearts to the God who wishes to draw us into the life of the resurrection, into a life of complete communion with Jesus. Through this communion and by the power of Jesus we are enabled to live a life that is not simply the life that was bestowed on us by our parents. The life that our parents gave us is a mortal life that we naturally seek to defend in a self-centred way. But the life that enables us to live this Sunday’s Gospel is an immortal life that is bestowed on us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. That is why this passage cannot be read as a series of obligations. Obligations of this sort will never be met by anyone. The only person capable of living this kind of life is someone who has passed from death to life, someone who has scaled the impenetrable barrier of nothingness that surrounds us on account of our mortality.

Christianity must not be reduced to a set of precepts! Christianity is living the life of Jesus by immersing ourselves daily in his death and resurrection

Our introduction to this life of the resurrection comes at Baptism. Baptism is not just a rite that happened to us years ago and no longer has any relevance. It marks the acceptance of our redemption in Christ. We must continue to welcome this redemption daily! If we do not welcome the life of Christ then the sayings of Jesus in this Sunday’s Gospel are nothing more than abstract philosophy. Many great saints of the Church, as well as hidden multitudes of Christians, have lived these words of Jesus, not because they were “good” people, but because they passed from death to life by the power of the Holy Spirit, They allowed themselves to be led by the hand of Jesus. This rendered them capable of being faithful to this radical extent, of being truthful to this radical extent, of being respectful to this radical extent. Woe to us if we reduce Christianity to a doctrine that must be understood and put into practice! If Christianity were a series of ethical precepts, then there would be no need for Christ to die on the cross. Jesus died on the cross and rose again so that we might be able to live in the way that is set out in the Gospel. If we examine the Gospel in its entirety, in fact, we will see that it never asks less than that we live the experience of the resurrection.