Deeper Spirituality

June 09, 2016Thursday
10th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 1 Kgs 18: 41-46Gospel: Matthew 5:20-26

Jesus said to the crowds, “I tell you, then, that if you are not righteous in a much broader way than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.“You have heard that it was said to our people in the past: Do not commit murder; anyone who does kill will have to face trial.

But now I tell you: whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial. Whoever insults a brother or sister deserves to be brought before the council; whoever calls a brother or a sister ‘Fool’ deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell. So, if you are about to offer your gift at the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with him, and then come back and offer your gift to God.“Don’t forget this: be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court. Otherwise he will turn you over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, who will put you in jail. There you will stay, until you have paid the last penny.”

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

Jesus begins a series of discourses on proper Christian conduct. He does this by quoting provisions from the Law (“You have heard it said”) and injecting his new teaching (“But now I tell you”). For murder he cites a provision from Exodus that says, “Do not commit murder (Exodus 20:13); anyone who does kill will have to face trial (Exodus 21:12)”. His new teaching is, “Whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial…”

Jesus wants his disciples to address sin from its roots. Thus he prohibits not just murder but even expressions of anger because most killings start therefrom. He prohibits calling a person a “fool”. The Aramaic word for “fool” is “reqa” which means “imbecile”. Clinically this refers to mental retardation starting at age seven. But in common parlance this is “stupid”, an insult.

The seriousness of the punishment that Jesus mentions is in ascending order. The first is judgment by a local council (“Whoever insults a brother or sister deserves to be brought before the council”). The second is trial before the Sanhedrin (“Be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court…”). The third is condemnation to Hell (“Whoever calls one a “Fool” deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell”). Taken together, these punishments are serious enough to make us understand that Jesus means business in his demand for deeper spirituality. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:[email protected].
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