FrNikola

10th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds us that making a promise or giving testimony is a powerful thing. The promises we make give witness to who we are, and the witness we give is a testimony to how seriously we take our promises. We’ve all experienced how unedifying it is when someone swears something to be true, promises to deliver on something, and then is revealed to have lied or fails to deliver, and not just because of circumstances beyond their control. When something is as simple as “Yes”or “No,” as Our Lord teaches us today, there’s no room for spin, for sophistry, for fine print, or for establishing little grey areas in our conscience instead of admitting we can or can’t deliver on something or whether we know or don’t know something.

Our Lord gives a laundry list of things the people of his day were using as collateral to show how serious they were about the oaths they made. He also puts his finger on the problem: that collateral is not theirs, nor is it under their control. It’s not as common today, but when someone swears “on my life,” or any other number of things or people, we are put on a guard, exactly because they are swearing on something over which they have no control or ownership and usually as a way of convincing others of their sincerity.

The easiest way to be sincere, as Our Lord reminds us today, is simply to be sincere: it’s the simplicity of a yes or no attitude to life, one that leaves no room for deceiving ourselves or others. Let’s ask Our Lord today to achieve that level of simplicity with ourselves and with others.

Readings: 2 Corinthians 5:14–21; Psalm 103:1–4, 9–12; Matthew 5:33–37.

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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In today’s Gospel the tip of the soldier’s lance and the words of St. John the Evangelist converge in pointing out something to us that the Church has contemplated throughout her history: the Heart of Christ, wounded out of love for us, but loving us unconditionally and without every diminishing. The point of that lance is the concluding punctuation mark to the Passion of Our Lord, but the story of love behind it continues, in each and every heart, throughout salvation history and into eternity. The more the Sacred Heart of Jesus is wounded by humanity, the more is shown how deep that Heart’s love is toward each and every one of us.

In the First Reading the Lord describes his love for Israel, a love spurned, like the wounded heart of a father who only wants to care for his child and in exchange receives indifference and rejection. In the Lord’s words we see how justice in his heart says a price should be exacted for such treatment, but also that love is the true driving force behind everything he does, and he cannot love his children any less, no matter what they do. In the Second Reading St. Paul prays that we have the strength to comprehend and know the love of God. It we truly realized how much God loves us, from the hardened sinner to the saint one step from Heaven, we’d die at the thought, not only from whatever we’ve done to wound his heart, but what others have done as well.

In contemplating the Sacred Heart, wounded out of love for us, we also know what is the most pleasing to his Heart: to show him that we appreciate his love by loving him and loving others, and by showing Our Lord that we “get it” by making reparation for all those people who spurn and reject him, knowingly or unknowingly. Let’s live this day contemplating the Heart of Jesus and trying to console him through our own love and understanding toward him and toward others.

Readings: Hosea 11:1, 3–4, 8c–9; Isaiah 12:2–6; Ephesians 3:8–12, 14–19; John 19:31–37.

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10th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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A common recurring defense today for a watered down life ethic is, “hey, at least I’m not killing anybody.” Our Lord reminds us in today’s Gospel that not killing anybody is good, but we have to go way beyond that if we don’t want to be Pharisaical. When we can say, “hey, at least I don’t hate anybody,” we’re getting closer to the mark. In a violent world maybe sometimes we look the other way at times in the face of a lack of kindness, but Our Lord today reminds us to go the distance and not only not kill anybody, but actually be kind to everybody.

When tempers flair and rash words are said the best thing to do, as Our Lord teaches, is to try to make amends as soon as possible and simply apologize. If we live a life of cruel and cold justice, focusing especially on the justice due to us, we’ll be in for a surprise when the eternal Judge brings us to “court” by the same harsh standards to which we held others. As Our Lord’s prayer reminds us, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Let’s ask Our Lord today to help us be a little less rash in our thoughts and actions toward others and a lot kinder, especially when we’re mistreated.

Readings: Matthew 5:20–26.

10th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In today’s First Reading Paul describes the old covenant, the one of Israel, in terms of death and condemnation and something that would fade away, but also as something glorious. It was a prelude to an even more glorious and enduring covenant, one qualified by God, spiritual, and life-giving through the power of the Spirit, a ministry of righteousness.

In this process the old covenant was not pointless; God doesn’t do anything pointless, everything is part of his loving plan for us. Our Lord in today’s Gospel reminds us of that. He hasn’t come to simply discard the old covenant, the “law and the prophets,” as never having had any purpose at all. Rather, he puts the old covenant’s purpose into context. Israel made an effort, sometimes mixed, to stay faithful to the covenant the Lord had established with them on Mt. Sinai. In other writings Paul describes the law stemming from this covenant as something educational for the immature: a preparation for something greater. The new covenant established by Christ and lived in Christianity is indebted to that process, which is why we often speak of a Judeo-Christian heritage and the Bible consists of the Old and the New Testaments. In the first centuries of Christianity certain groups tried to expunge any trace of Judaism from Christianity, and they were ignoring Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel. In his own words he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them.

Let’s ask Our Lord to help us today to understand the purpose of the traditions we live as Christians in order to live our faith more fully and not be quick to discard them as pointless. Christianity is not meant to fade away.

Readings: 2 Corinthians 3:4–11; Psalm 99:5–9; Matthew 5:17–19.

10th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord teaches us that Christian life is like salt and light. Flavorless Christianity is like putting sand on your french fries: something is different about the taste, but it’s not something good. Some people have already written off Christianity as sand on the fries, as something that robs life of its flavor, but those people have either never experienced it or have only met the flavorless variety of Christian that Jesus is warning against today. Christianity, like salt, is not meant to be just any flavor; salt is a staple in many recipes, in many cultures, and it is not easily replaced. Neither pepper nor chili powder, for example, would have the same effect. Christianity is meant to make a unique contribution to society and culture, even for those who do not believe in Christ. For believers, like that salt shaker on the dinner table, it is indispensable and we can accept no substitutes.

Salt subtly contributes to many recipes and is only appreciated at times when its absence is noted. It’s meant to blend in and contribute, but we have to make sure it receives the credit it is due, which is why Our Lord also reminds us in today’s Gospel that Christianity is meant to be a light on a high place or a lamp stand: it is meant to shed light on many things, even things not directly considered Christian, because ultimately the Gospel is a message of truth and goodness that contributes to every level and sector of society, directly or indirectly. There are ethical and philosophical truths that any reasonable person can consider, even if they don’t believe any or some of the tenets of Christian faith, and those ethical and philosophical truths can open the door to their conversion.

Let’s pray today for the flavorless Christians to put some “spice” back into their Christian life, and also for all those Christians trying to be the light of world while being treated like sand in the fries.

Readings: 2 Corinthians 1:18–22; Psalm 119:129–133, 135; Matthew 5:13–16.