Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reflection: Speaking of relationships
By SISTER MARY McGLONE
Karl Rahner, one of the greatest Catholic theologians of the 20th century, taught that we become fully human through love of neighbor.
To understand this, observe a mother teaching her child to talk: The little one is learning vocabulary and also a way of life, a culture and what it means to be part of a family. At the same time, the mother becomes more of a mother with each loving interaction with her child. As humans, we have the opportunity to grow until we take our last breath, and each relationship enlarges our being.
Sirach, a wise man who wrote around 175 BCE, says something similar. His message today reflects what Moses said more than 1,000 years earlier: “I put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life!” (Deuteronomy 30:19) Sirach uses the images of fire and water to say the same thing. Both want their people to realize that following God’s will leads a person to become more profoundly who he/she is and at the same time become more deeply related to all others. Nobody can do it alone. We become who we are together.
When we think about Jesus in his context, we too often denigrate Pharisees and other religious groups of his time as being mired in the law. In truth, they debated the same theme Jesus preached about: how to live as God hopes we will. Jesus told his listeners, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.” Jesus interpreted the deep purpose of the law, demonstrating that the letter was nothing more than an entryway into its richness.
Jesus offered the disciples concrete examples of what it looks like to fulfill the intention of the law. For them as for us, his teaching can sound excessively demanding. But Jesus wasn’t talking about ordinary life in society; he was explaining the ethics of the Reign of God.
For Jesus, murder was more than a question of knives, rope or stones. He considered any dehumanizing action as a mini-murder. For him, anything that undercut the dignity of another person functioned as a form of killing. It’s one thing to get angry, even Jesus did that. It’s another thing to nurse the kind of anger or wrath that classifies another as an enemy, an obstacle or an impediment. That erases their humanity in our minds. Calling someone raqa, or fool, denigrates an image of God, brazenly treating one of God’s beloved as less than worthy. Considering others as despicable prepares people for war and accepts capital punishment. What the despisers don’t realize is that choosing to view another as inconsequential desecrates them as much as their victim.
As Jesus elaborated on the theme, he began with his typical hyperbole, suggesting that one should pluck out an unruly eye or cut off a wandering hand. Of course, Jesus knew well that Jewish law prohibited any form of self-harm or mutilation. He wanted to wake them up. Jesus followed his outrageous proposal with something more serious. He reminded people that eyes can be responsible for terrible damage to others. Some perceive others as objects for their satisfaction or tools they can use to their own benefit. Refusing to see or recognize the humanity of a person is a form of assassination.
Jesus continued with other examples that some would find difficult, if not outrageous. Jesus insisted that marriage is a relationship between equals, therefore a man cannot simply be rid of his woman. Couples who nurture mutual love and respect will naturally shun adultery and do everything necessary to avoid the tragedy of divorce. In Jesus’ eyes, marriage is a sacrament of divine faithfulness. Loving couples become models for every other relationship of love that humans choose to grow in.
Jesus then talked about the mouth, our primary organ for communication and the one that keeps us alive by ingesting food and drink. Jesus admitted no reason for swearing oaths because genuine relationships build on honesty and integrity. Anything less results in superficial dealings in which people seem like skiers who never experience anything below the cold, slippery surface of others’ personalities.
In sum, Jesus taught that we work out our ethics and participation in the Reign of God through healthy, loving relationships. He showed that deep love of others is necessary for anyone who wants to grow as a human being. Although he didn’t know anything about quantum theory, Jesus lived as if everything he said and did had infinite consequences — because it does. Jesus taught his disciples to live like he did because loving and cherishing each person is the only way to happiness and to grow our humanity and thus in union with our Trinitarian God.
Just like the Trinity, we’re all in it together.
Reading 1
(Sirach 15: 15-20)
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 19: 1-2,4-5, 17-18, 33-34)
R. 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
(1 Corinthians 2: 6-10)
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.
Gospel
(Matthew 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 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.”