May the good Lord grant you all the graces you need to keep the spirit of his commandments out of love for him and for your neighbour. Happy Sunday!
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Sirach 15,15-20; 1 Cor 2,6-10; Matt 5,17-37: 6th Sunday of the Year A, 2017)
The first reading and the gospel reading offer us, Christians of today and modern day disciples of Jesus two good lessons. The first encourages us to take responsibility of our actions and not impute responsibility to others. The gospel reading holds that in fulfilling the commandments of God or the Church’s by-laws we have to pay greater attention to their interior meaning than to their material significance.
The book of Sirach insists on human liberty, on our capacity to observe the commandment of God. The author writes: If you wish, you can keep the commandments; to behave faithfully is within your power. God created us free and that means that we have the capacity to say yes or no, accept his will or to close ourselves against it. The same book of Sirach affirms: Man has life and death before him; whichever the man prefers will be given him. We have to be conscious of our decisions. If this is taken according to the will and mind of God, which is the will open to love, creation and redemption, we would be treading on positive path, in the direction of life and we will have serenity, peace, joy and definitely union with God. If on the other hand, we allow ourselves to be seduced to evil, if we live in selfishness, then we will be marching towards corruption and destruction. We should be very conscious of our situation. We are free in the sense that we can acquire more and more interior freedom or little by little destroy the freedom we already have. In fact, whoever commits sin has become the slave of sin. Further consequence from the reading from the book of Sirach is that being free to make our choices; we should blame neither God nor anybody for what we are or do. We need to be courageous enough to take responsibility for the good or bad consequences of things we do. This is the first step towards interior conversion. The Bible is fully aware of human condition, knows the burden of temptation, the fragile nature of human beings and even the presence of Satan that induces to evil, nevertheless it does not excuse anyone for doing evil when it holds: sin is lying snare on your door but you can overpower it (Gen 4,7). Therefore, we are to take responsibility of our actions, ask for pardon, get converted and stop evading the consequences of our negative choices. Sirach also suggests another important fact: the necessity to observe the commandment of God out of persuasion and from interior conviction. It is true that no one forces another to commit evil just as it is true that not even God does force any one to commit sin. God does not want anyone to be restricted nor does he want anyone to act in duress, but rather through conviction that is outcome of persuasion. True obedience to God will have to come from two convictions: God is not a tyrant who is interested only in himself but a father who is interested in human affairs.
The gospel reading of today is the continuation of Jesus’ instruction of his disciples. Although his teaching is based on the common tradition of Israel found in the Law and Prophets, his interpretations seem to have been so unprecedented that some accused him of having rejected that tradition. Jesus insists that the accusation is false. Furthermore, while his interpretations do indeed provide a new perspective, they really offer the fuller meaning of the tradition. The gravity of Jesus words is significant by his introductory statement: Amen, I stay to you. Amen stresses the validity and truth of his words. The phrase I say to you emphasizes the authority with which he speaks. The contrast which Jesus sets up is not between himself and the Law but between his interpretation and that of the scribes and Pharisees, the interpreters of the Law for the people of that day. Jesus had criticized them for their insistence on the minutiae of the Law at the expense of the righteousness that is at its heart. Some people believed that God’s will is to be found in fidelity to the markings of the text, the actual letters of the Law. They went so far as to insist that even a mistake made when copying a text was a violation. Jesus uses this very point of view to argue that he is not abolishing anything. He respects even the smallest part of the smallest letter (iota), and he teaches others to do the same. He insists that everything within the tradition will stand until it had been fulfilled. Jesus uses the formula: You have heard it said: …But I say to you. His interpretation is really radical. He demands much more than mere external conformity. While the Law bans murder, Jesus forbids anger and even insult. Anger with a member of the community will make one liable to judgment. Calling someone fool or idiot warrants an even harsher penalty, the fires of Gehenna (the Jewish equivalent to hell). We must remember the significance in the society during Jesus’ time of both one’s name, honor and shame. The name contains the very essence of the individual. To publicly call another an insulting name was to shame that person and to deprive that person of an honored place in society. It is to be observed that Jesus expects us to go extra mile in keeping the commandments and, therefore, he expects self-mastery/discipline from us. Lest we fall into interior anger and hatred and expose ourselves to violence, we have to renounce not only external violence but also interior one, thereby not allowing any traces of violent thoughts. Harmony, within the community introduces the need to be reconciled with other community members. It is important to note that the grievance, Jesus highlights, is against a disciple who has come to perform an act of religious devotion. Jesus states that reconciliation is the responsibility of that disciple and this reconciliation supersedes the act of devotion. Social discord must be attended to before it gets out of hand. The Law prohibits adultery, while Jesus forbids lustful desire. Here self-mastery and discipline are called for. Jesus uses standard Near Eastern exaggeration to underscore the need for self discipline. It is better to mutilate oneself than to suffer total annihilation in Gehenna. The final contrasts which Jesus treats to show the radical nature of his reinterpretation regarding oaths. They were generally taken when the word of the person was not reliable. In such a situation, a person who was reliable was called upon to stand for the trustworthiness of the one taking the oath. Jesus here forbids taking frivolous oaths and thereby implicating God in any way in doing so. One’s word should be honest and straightforward, and when given it should have the force of an oath.
The above nuances of Jesus’ reinterpretation of the Law are difficult to put into practice but Jesus gives us the grace and force to go ahead in this direction. He is not content to present to us commandments but also he came into the world to donate his grace, help and the joy that will enable us perfectly fulfill the will of God by loving him with all our being and generously loving our neighbours. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye
GRAPHICS BY CHUKWUBIKE
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