Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 76
Reading 1
If you choose you can keep the
commandments, they will save you;
if you trust in God, you too shall live;
he has set before you fire and water
to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.
Before man are life and death, good and evil,
whichever he chooses shall be given him.
Immense is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is mighty in power, and all-seeing.
The eyes of God are on those who fear him;
he understands man's every deed.
No one does he command to act unjustly,
to none does he give license to sin.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the
law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,
that I may exactly observe them.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
We speak a wisdom to those who are mature,
not a wisdom of this age,
nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.
Rather, we speak God's wisdom, mysterious, hidden,
which God predetermined before the ages for our glory,
and which none of the rulers of this age knew;
for, if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written:
What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard,
and what has not entered the human heart,
what God has prepared for those who love him,
this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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 fulfill.
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."
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
We have been given the gift of free will by God. This enables us to decide on our future, where we are going, and what type of life we will live. This gift reminds me of my grandson, Miles. He is a little over two years old now and is getting rambunctious. It seems that he has a limitless amount of energy only matched by his expressions of joy. When we play together, his laughter fills the room, and his behavior becomes more active. This then turns to erratic. He becomes overwhelmed by his own pleasure center, and a lack of discipline follows. It is times such as this that Miles will start to take risks. One time, as we were playing, he stood on a chair and was preparing to jump. I instinctively went over to catch him, but my daughter said casually, “Don’t stop him, I already said ‘no’ once, so if he does it, then he probably won’t do it again after hurting himself” Thankfully, Miles did not hurt himself, but my daughter’s message was clear: If he wasn’t going to listen to instructions, then he was going to learn from his mistakes.
Being God’s children, it can be argued that we are placed in the same position of Miles constantly, and that we have the choice to listen to what God wants us to do or we can choose our own conduct, regardless of where it leads us. What makes us different from Miles, is that we are old enough to know better, and are able to make a logical choice based on the wisdom and fortitude given to us a gift through the workings of the Holy Spirit.
God does not want us to faulter or fall short. He wants all of us to succeed through Jesus’ example and by listening to what He has to say.
There is no duplicity with God and there is no easier way to achieve the vision of joy and happiness that He tries to give us. His message has never changed since the creation of the universe: Salvation is through Jesus Christ, and that He is ready to forgive and help us, if only we ask. There is no room for pride or second-guessing here. Either we are for Him or against Him. Not just saying this changes anything, our actions must match our words. In other words,
“Do what you say and say what you mean.”
At first glance, this talk might appear to be simple, yet there is a constant danger that we can divert ourselves back to bad behavior, especially when we know we have a choice.
Getting back to Miles. It is worth noting that, when my grandson makes his own mistakes through trial and error, he becomes unwilling to repeat the same behavior that caused him to be hurt. He will not jump off the chair again, for fear of hurting himself once it is learned that he can do so. He understands the cause and effect and makes the logical decision that it is better not to be hurt. This is demonstrative of the process of obtaining wisdom: the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The reading from the Book of Sirach today presents the choice of following God in much the same way as if we are deciding to jump off of a chair:
“If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you;
if you trust in God, you too shall live;
he has set before you fire and water
to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.”
The fire will burn us as much as not following the commandments set forth by God, yet there will be those of us who will continue to do things that are harmful to us and to those who we love. Unlike God, we tend to be duplicitous (saying one thing but doing another) in our actions, stained by Original Sin and its consequences. Left to our own devices, we are constantly in danger of doing things that will ultimately lead us to a bad place in our lives or do things that will possibly fulfill some sort of immediate gratification but will then destroy us over time. During times such as these, it is obvious that even a two-year-old like Miles has more wisdom and understanding than us. This is because self-justification is learned behavior and not something that is gained through wisdom or is naturally present within us.
This self-justification is a product of our own free will, bent and twisted in a sort of way that we can do just about anything to satisfy our wants and desires without taking accountability. The Law and the teachings of Jesus Christ offer both a better way and a structure that we are told to follow. Jesus today reminds us that the Law, as prescribed through Moses, is still in effect and that He is the fulfillment of the same Law. To get to Jesus, the Law must be obeyed, and Jesus will then bring us to the Father. Jesus becomes the fulfilment of the Law and by no means replaces it. In fact, He challenges us to go beyond the Law. The Law goes only to a certain extent, while Jesus brings all of it to a different level, because following of the Law needs to be done with a contrite heart. We should want to follow the Law out of love and live our lives through Jesus Christ the same way. So, the way of Jesus naturally goes beyond the Law and encompasses our complete being: body, mind, and spirit. All should be in unity of thought and action so to bring about a proper result in all that we do.
When all aspects of ourselves are unified through Jesus Christ, then our will is truly surrendered over to Him and the Law can be followed correctly and for the right reason: out of love. It is through love that we can then walk with Jesus and experience Him rightly in this life and the next.
Deacon Tom
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