Friends,
our Gospel for today is taken from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has
symbolically established himself as the new Moses, giving a law upon a
mountain. His “you have heard it
said...but I say...” has revealed that he has authority even over the
Torah.
To
be clear, the Law is not being abrogated here; it is being intensified.
The Law was always meant to bring humanity into line with divinity. In
the beginning, this alignment was at a fairly basic level. But now that
the definitive Moses has appeared, the alignment is becoming absolute,
radical, complete.
And so Jesus teaches, “You have heard 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.” Killing is an action, but that action is rooted in a more
fundamental dysfunction: a hateful attitude, a disordered soul, a basic
misperception of reality. To utterly be like God, we obviously have to
eliminate cruel and hateful actions; but we have to go deeper,
eliminating cruel and hateful thoughts and attitudes. For God is love, right through.
Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 362
Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink,
for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
So Ahab went up to eat and drink,
while Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel,
crouched down to the earth,
and put his head between his knees.
"Climb up and look out to sea," he directed his servant,
who went up and looked, but reported, "There is nothing."
Seven times he said, "Go, look again!"
And the seventh time the youth reported,
"There is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising from the sea."
Elijah said, "Go and say to Ahab,
'Harness up and leave the mountain before the rain stops you.'"
In a trice the sky grew dark with clouds and wind,
and a heavy rain fell.
Ahab mounted his chariot and made for Jezreel.
But the hand of the LORD was on Elijah,
who girded up his clothing and ran before Ahab
as far as the approaches to Jezreel.
Jesus said to his disciples:
"I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into 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 with him.
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."
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