Dear Parish Family,

With this Sunday's Gospel reading, we move into the part of the Sermon on the Mount that scholars call the six antitheses. The label highlights the fact that here, six times in a row, the words of Jesus follow a pattern that goes, “You have heard that it was said … But I say to you … ” Here we meet Jesus asserting an authority even greater than that of Moses. In the rabbinic tradition, the greatest authority was Moses. Every teaching ended in asserting what Moses said and intended to say on the matter at hand. Let us take one example to understand the awe inspiring unique and fundamental teaching of Christ. Listen carefully to what Jesus says in the antithesis about murder. He begins by citing the commandment and its consequence: whoever kills will be liable to judgment. “Judgment” here is not punishment after death but a reference to the juridical process of a trial. The law says, “Kill and you shall be tried for it.” Jesus then asserts, “But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to the same judgment.”

At this point the rational listener is supposed to say, “Wait a minute! You can't litigate about anger. There's no deed, no action to take to court.” Jesus' implied answer is, “Right. Don't think you are obeying the Torah on murder just because you haven't killed. I am calling you to something that the law can't reach, the disposition of your heart. If you want to forestall violence, deal with the anger in your heart.” Jesus does not make new laws; for living the law, he brings a new vision and a new help—a refreshed covenant relationship with God. Jesus is challenging us to a purity of heart that the calculus of the law cannot reach. So don't be complacent that you haven't killed yet. Name calling, degrading talk and dehumanizing attitude make a person fall short of ‘holiness’ that Christ is inviting us to embrace.

It is unspoken anger, violent language and the quiet contempt of the other that we often overlook as just human weakness. These point a finger at our unwillingness to forgive. “If you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift at the altar, go first to be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” How different would our own Eucharistic celebration will be if we took Jesus seriously? The resentments we hold against our parents, our children, our spouses, and our neighbors would have to dissolve before we would approach the altar, lest we receive the sacrament unworthily. Perhaps that is why our Communion is aptly prefaced by the sign of peace. Just as we ask God, “Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your church,” so also we who have sinned against each other must see with the eyes of faith and forgive. Jesus, however, is looking for something far deeper than legal observances. He wants us to be motivated by love, to live loving lives, to care and to unselfishly give of ourselves to others and to our Father in heaven. This is a way of living that no law can motivate or impose on us. This way of living puts greater demands on us. God gave us a tremendous gift, the gift of freely choosing. This is because love isn’t truly love unless it is freely given – and freely received. After all, a gift isn’t a gift unless and until it is received. God has paid us a tremendous compliment in that He respects our decisions. That is why He never forces our decisions. He offers and then He waits for our response. His love for us is unconditional. His only law is love, a love within us that governs our choices and the actions that flow from our choices—from our heart to others and God.

Fr. Tom Kunnel C.O.