HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 10TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: BE RECONCILED….. “If you are not righteous in a much broader way (…), you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven”
BY: Fr. Julio César RAMOS González SDB
(Mendoza, Argentina)
HOMILY FOR THURSDAY JUNE 9 2022
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5,20-26.
Today, Jesus invites us to go beyond what any reliable law-abiding person can go. Even, without falling into any evil deeds, routine quite often hardens the desire of seeking sanctity, by comfortably adapting ourselves to the habit of just a good behavior, and nothing else. St. John Bosco used to say: «The good is the enemy of the best». It is there, where the Master’s Word reaches us, inviting us to be righteous in a “much broader” way (cf. Mt 5:20) that starts from a different attitude. Bigger things that, paradoxically, look lesser and smaller. To get angry, to scorn and disown your brother are not the right things for the disciple of the Kingdom who is supposed to be —nothing less but— the salt of the earth and the light of the world (cf. Mt 5:13-16), as of the applicability of the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:3-12).
With authority, Jesus changes the interpretation of the negative precept “Do not kill” (cf. Ex 20:13), by the positive meaning of the deep and radical demand of reconciliation, which, for additional emphasis, is put in relationship to the worship. Thus, no offering is valid when you “recall that your brother has anything against you” (Mt 5:23). This is why it is so important to settle any dispute as, otherwise, the invalidity of your offering will be turned against you (cf. Mt 5,26).
All this can only be attained through a great love. Indeed —St. Paul will say—: “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rm 13:9-10). Help us beg to be renewed in the gift of charity —to the minimum detail— towards our neighbor, and our life will be the best and most authentic of all our offers to God.
Fr. Julio César RAMOS González SDB
(Mendoza, Argentina)