Mt. 5:17-37
Today’s Gospel is part of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is portrayed as one who fulfills and brings to greater depth and clarity the teachings of the Old Testament. Matthew is emphatic that Jesus is not breaking away from the Old Testament. He is clearly showing the true meaning of the teachings that had not been understood. He is inviting us to go deeper to find the true meaning in all its wisdom and beauty.
In this section of Matthew there are six statements that begin, “you have heard it was said…but I say…”. They all deal with Jesus bringing us to a much more challenging understanding of the Old Testament teaching. They all deal with human relations.
Today’s Gospel has four of these statements: murder, adultery, divorce and oaths. Next week we will have the other two: revenge and love of enemies.
When I was a young priest, I was a firebrand for racial justice. I was abundantly blessed with the youthful gift of enthusiasm and cursed with an abundance of youthful self-righteousness.
One day, one of my older and wiser Carmelite brothers told me I would be more effective if I worked at calling forth and not putting down when dealing with people. Since the log in my eye was of the xxxl size it took me quite a while to grasp the wisdom of my brother’s advice. Slowly, it began to take focus. To call forth and not put down simply means to give due recognition to the human dignity of the other.
Jesus had a clear handle on the process. All six of his statements are a beautiful expression of celebrating the dignity of people’s human dignity.
Here’s a thought on just one of Jesus teachings in today’s Gospel selection. In talking about, “You shall not kill” Jesus says, “whoever says,’ you fool will be liable to fiery Gehenna’”. (Mt 5:22)
Just think how important names and labels are in any movement of a group for freedom and dignity. We went from colored people to Negroes to Blacks to African Americans. We went from fruits to fags to queers to gays to one with a different sexual orientation. Each of these changes was difficult and often painful because it slowly surfaced a deeply engrained prejudice. Each change was a step closer to recognizing the basic human dignity of the “other”.
The Gospel has a perfect example of this in the story of the Prodigal Son. In our common sense view of reality, the father would have been totally justified in calling the son, “You fool”!
The Gospel story tells us the father gave no such response but commanded the servants to get ready for the party to celebrate because “This son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found”. (Lk 15:23)
Jesus is inviting us to ponder the depth of the power of the names we use for others. They need to express and celebrate the human dignity of the other. They need to lead us to call forth and not put down if we “are to be perfect just as our heavenly Father is perfect”. (Mt 5: 48).
