February 12th 2023. Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Mt 5:17-37

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

 

Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: Mt 5:17-37

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfil.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you,
whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment;
and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’
will be answerable to the Sanhedrin;
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’
will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

“You have heard that it was said,
You shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin,
tear it out and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.
And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

“It was also said,
Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.
But I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife -  unless the marriage is unlawful -
causes her to commit adultery,
and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
Do not take a false oath,
but make good to the Lord all that you vow.
But I say to you, do not swear at all;
not by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Do not swear by your head,
for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,' and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the evil one.”

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

 

 

1. Jesus makes the prescriptions of the Law much more radical and tells us that if our righteousness remains at the minimal level of the religious leaders, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven

The readings on Sunday open by telling us that the commandments of the Lord are the way to life. In the second reading, we hear that the wisdom of God is not the wisdom of the masters of this world. Then, in the Gospel, we read one of the most radical passages of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus tells us that he hasn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfil it. Then he speaks of a righteousness that is greater than that of the Scribes and Pharisees. We might be inclined to think that these religious leaders were unpleasant characters, but in reality they were very serious and very faithful to the commandments of the Law. If our righteousness does not surpass theirs, however, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven! Jesus is radicalizing the meaning of the commandments. In fact, the fifth, sixth and seventh commandments are made more radical by Jesus in a wonderful manner. For example, it is not sufficient not to kill someone. Rather, we must take care of the lives of others and make peace with our enemies, being attentive not to approach the altar unless we are in communion with our brother. In the case of adultery, Jesus is not content just to proscribe it but to insist that we not look lustfully on other people. All true relationships – marriage, paternity, friendship – are indissoluble. The relationship between a husband and a wife cannot admit a rupture of any sort. In the case of the vows and oaths we swear, Jesus is again very clear. How many useless words we utter, things without substance or sense!

 

2. Entering the Kingdom is not something we do at the end of our lives. We must enter it now, and start living according to the eternal. Then our actions take on a completely different level of righteousness

Jesus is asking for true communication between us. He is demanding a life of affectivity between people that is authentic. In this sense, we are called to a righteousness that exceeds the Scribes and Pharisees. To do otherwise is to fail to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Is this a real possibility for us?  Or to put it another way, can one live the Christian life without entering the Kingdom of Heaven? Without entering into something that is heavenly, eternal? Is it possible to live in an authentic way without eternity? Can I be a father, friend or priest without eternity? No! Without eternity, our lives become senseless. We must live according to things that have endurance, meaning, substance. This involves crossing a certain threshold. In Christ, we see someone who is willing to lose his life for us. This is the life of the Christian: to be willing to lose one’s life for another, and then to rediscover it, greater and more beautiful than before. In our relationships, our communications with others, if we are willing to lose our life, to be faithful onto death, to endure onto that which limits us, this is to live according to eternity.

 

3. God goes beyond the letter of the law to love us and pardon us. We must do likewise. Our actions must have within them this dying to self, which always leads to greater life.

If our lives are not lived in this substantial way, without meaning, without investment of self, what kind of lives are we leading? What kind of father, friend or colleague does things only insofar as they suit him or interest him? Life demands that we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven! We must cross that threshold and surpass that level of righteousness! The righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was the righteousness of the regulations. We need to go beyond the minimal prescriptions of the law in order to love. How many times have we needed others to do just that in order to have patience with us after we mess up or make a mistake? How many times God has gone beyond the rules in order to love us! If Christ had merely obeyed the laws, then we all would have deserved death but he became the just one for the unjust, bore on his shoulders our disorders to love us and to save us. Can we do otherwise? Can we love others just by sticking to protocols, bureaucratic procedures, pharisaic attitudes? No, we must go beyond if we wish to love. Christ went beyond. The Lord has gone beyond countless times.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

Sometimes people think that Christianity involves the abandonment of the laws of the Old Testament and the taking up of a new life of following the “heart”, a life without rules and regulations. But Jesus tells us in this Gospel that he has come, not to abolish the law, but to bring it to fulfilment. The old rules about adultery, murder, etc., are not to be abolished, but to made even more rigorous! Adultery is prohibited, but so is even an impure glance at another person. Murder is banned, but so are angry thoughts towards others. Maybe Jesus is exaggerating here? Or maybe the translation is bad? But, when we think about it, isn’t this exactly the level of fidelity and nobility that we long to see in others? We want a spouse that is faithful to this degree. We want our friends to be ready to cut off their hands rather than betray us. If a father only did the minimum due to his children, then he would be a very cold and distant father! True love requires that we go beyond the external observance of the rules and that we are faithful to these rules from the heart. But this is not just difficult for us, it is impossible! That is why Jesus opens his discourse by saying, “I have come not to abolish the law, but to bring it to fulfilment”. It is Jesus who makes our fidelity in love possible! It is not that we have to be strong enough to live this fidelity, but that we have to be humble enough, to abandon ourselves into the arms of Jesus and allow ourselves to be led by him.