A Gospel Reflection
by Deacon Kurt Heinrich
Thursday, June 11
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.”
Dear Family and Friends,
Today’s Gospel Jesus challenges us to turn to Ten Commandments as a guide to living well. He starts with the foundation of the Ten Commandments and builds upon them. Jesus does not discard the Ten Commandments but further clarifies the Spirit of the Law and how that Spirit is to be lived in the world. We may not be killing our neighbor, but do we cling to our anger against them or call them a fool behind their back? Anger and the demeaning of another have an insidious nature that destroys and condemns us if we refuse to let them go. Jesus even clarifies the priority in which we are to address such issues when he tells us to drop everything and seek reconciliation.
The final lines are a challenge to us all. Notice in the grievance with our brother, we are the one that is found guilty. The importance of settling the dispute is to our advantage because if it we do not settle the issue, we pay the price. We are the one that is damaged by our anger; we are the one that is harmed when we put our neighbor down. We are sinners. We need to seek forgiveness with our God and with our neighbor. We are living in a time of great social unrest. It’s a time for us to take a look at our actions and our bias and consider if we need to make a change. There are only two people that have loved perfectly: Jesus and Mary. They have set an example for us to follow. Let us pray for the courage and the strength to love like the Holy Family. Let their witness inspire us to change our hearts and bring us all closer to God.
