Homily for Thursday
10th Week of Ordinary Time
June 13, 2022
Matt 5: 20-26
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.
“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you won’t enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 5: 20).
We continue reading the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus
lays out a plan of life for his followers.
Altho the gospel writers present a different view, the scribes and
Pharisees in general were good men, striving to please God by observing
faithfully, even rigorously, the Law of Moses—all 613 precepts, by one count.
Jesus tells us today that literal observance of all the
rules isn’t sufficient. His followers
must aim higher—at a greater form of holiness, at a closer relationship with
God. External observance of the Law may
mean nothing if it doesn’t come from our hearts, from a desire to please God,
to become close to him, to become more like him, to “be perfect as [our]
heavenly Father is,” as Jesus will put it later in Matthew 5 (v. 48).
Jesus uses the example of someone so angry with a brother—a
fellow Israelite, or anyone really—that he’d kill him if wasn’t against the Law. He submits to the Law but doesn’t embrace
it. He maintains a harsh, judgmental
attitude toward his brother—not a holy attitude, not an attitude expressive of closeness
to God.
Jesus requires of us patience and forgiveness toward our
brothers, even when they’re offensive or merely irritating. That’s an observance of the Law—and of our
religious rule of life—that’s more difficult but more like Jesus himself, a
surpassing sign of being right with God and of walking the road toward his
kingdom.
No comments:
Post a Comment