Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 76

Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.

Moses gave his people the law and he also assured them that God’s law is not impossible. Unlike the expectations we place on ourselves and others, the Law of God is entirely practical and doable. 

Many social observers have remarked on the impossible expectations we impose on ourselves. Women are supposed to be excellent mothers, good housekeepers, great cooks, reliable employees, virtuous wives, and fascinating sexual partners. And if you have to live more than forty years, don't look like it! 

Men should be strong, clever, confident, self-assured, successful, prosperous, and reliable. They should never ask directions, and should never admit they don't know the answer. (They'll make something up.)   

Like the First Couple in the Garden of Eden, after trying and tasting the forbidden fruit, Adam’s sons and Eve’s daughters have knowledge of good and evil, but no clear understanding of either. We know what we like; we sometimes know what we want; and we think those things are good. We know what we fear and have strong opinions of things we don't like. Many children detest and absolutely refuse to eat certain foods because they have never tasted them. We hate those things and think they’re certainly evil. 

But we have some notions of Good and Evil, of what those words really mean. Some philosophers today suppose those principles don’t really exist; there is no substantial reality beyond what we think, feel, and perceive with our senses. They insist there is no God who can reveal the truth to us, because there is no truth. 

And so they readily dismiss the Church which would help the world make personal, social, economic, and political decisions. They know only power; and they teach their children that “might makes right.” If you have the strength, the ability, the freedom, and the money, you can do anything you want; and more than you can imagine. You can do the impossible! There are no limits to what you can do – with machines, with ideas, with people, or with your bodies. You can go to Mars! You might even live forever. We will figure out how to prolong life forever! When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, your dreams come true! 

One of the friars here at Mount Saint Francis, when I was a seminarian, told of a friend who asked him, “How can you priests live and not have women?” He replied, “It’s just like you, Joe. You have only one woman; that’s your wife. We don’t have that one.” The friar said he knew Joe played around with more than a few women, despite his being married; but he reminded the fellow that human beings can and do live chastely. 

When Jesus teaches us in today’s Gospel, “You have heard it said…, but I say to you…” he is reminding his disciples about the Good and Evil which God reveals through his Holy Word. That word comes to us as a command which cannot, and must not, be compromised. You have heard compromises about killing, divorce, adultery, and swearing; but I am telling you you can live in purity of heart without compromise. You can please God as Adam and Eve never did. 

whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments

and teaches others to do so

will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments

will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The Lord also insisted, “I have come not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill.” The enemies of God, who have great authority in our government, our schools, our entertainment, and social media, tell us that no one can live that way. It’s impossible and we should not expect it of ourselves or anyone else. Today’s child should expect to be married at least three times before they die, that’s just the way things are! We should commit adultery; we should lie, and lie under oath, like everyone else. 

But Jesus, who is compelled by the Holy Spirit, and passionately in love with God his Father, assures us, “...in the Holy Spirit all things are possible.” In obedience to God, with the humble confession that we are sinners like our sacred parents Adam and Eve, we can live in purity of heart. When we say yes, we mean yes; when we say no we mean no. When we say, “I will do it, it is done. Count on it.”

“My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” When we place our confidence in the Spirit God gives us, and not in our fears and ignorance, all things are possible. 

…whoever obeys and teaches these commandments

will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses

that of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.