Scripture of the Week
Daily Scriptures
Reflection on the DAILY SCRIPTURES can be found at the following links:
Sunday Scriptures
Reflect on the Sunday Scriptures with:
Gospel And Reflection
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A
First Reading – Sirach 15:15-20
A reading from the second book of Isaiah
He never commanded anyone to be godless.
If you wish, you can keep the commandments,
to behave faithfully is within your power.
He has set fire and water before you;
put out your hand to whichever you prefer.
Man has life and death before him;
whichever a man likes better will be given him.
For vast is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is almighty and all-seeing.
His eyes are on those who fear him,
he notes every action of man.
He never commanded anyone to be godless,
he has given no one permission to sin.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 118:1-2. 4-5. 17-18. 33-34. R. v.1
(R.) Happy are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 2:6-10
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Colossians
God in his wisdom predestined our glory before the ages began.
We have a wisdom to offer those who have reached maturity: not a philosophy of our age, it is true, still less of the masters of our age, which are coming to their end. The hidden wisdom of God which we teach in our mysteries is the wisdom that God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began. It is a wisdom that none of the masters of this age have ever known, or they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory; we teach what scripture calls: the things that no eye has seen and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him.
These are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God..
Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 5:12
See Matthew 11:25
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.
Alleluia!
Gospel – Matthew 5:17-37
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Such was said to your ancestors; but I am speaking to you.
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish them but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.
‘For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.
‘You have learnt how it was said: You must not commit adultery. But I say this to you: if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye should cause you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to have your whole body thrown into hell. And if your right hand should cause you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to have your whole body go to hell.
‘It has also been said: Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal. But I say this to you: everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of fornication, makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
‘Again, you have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you: do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne; or by the earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great king. Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.’.
Gospel Reflection
A Charter for Reconciliation and Forgiveness
Reflection on the Gospel-6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A
(Matthew 5:17-37)
We sometimes forget that Jesus was a faithful Jew who observed the Law handed down within Israel from generation to generation. Today’s gospel is from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus, the faithful Jewish teacher, addresses his Jewish disciples and the Jewish crowds who gather to hear his words.
The mission of Jesus is to fulfill the law (“I have come to…”), not to do away with it, and fulfilling the law is a question of “righteousness”. The Greek term for righteousness, dikaiosunē, translates both the Hebrew sedeqah meaning “right relationship” and mishpat meaning “justice”. The righteousness of the official teachers of the Law, the scribes and Pharisees, their manner of relating to others and their notions of justice, are judged to be quite inadequate for those who are part of God’s reign, the kin-dom “of heaven” in Matthew’s terminology. The righteousness of Jesus’ followers is to “exceed” such minimalist interpretations and expressions of the Law.
Jesus, authentic teacher and interpreter of the Law, offers six examples of the righteousness that “fulfils” the Law. Four of these examples are included in today’s reading. What was heard “of old” is contrasted with what Jesus wants to say to his hearers. In the first instance, they all know that the Law forbids murder. They may not have considered the connection between unrestrained anger or murderous thoughts and murder itself. In a series of cascading sentences, Jesus presents a charter for reconciliation and forgiveness. He reminds his audience that true worship demands a forgiving heart expressed in action. He includes a fairly pragmatic reason for settling out of court: you may otherwise find yourself in prison. There may be an implicit criticism here of the increasingly punitive legal system of the time, a reminder to us of the futility of incarceration of children and the incarceration of anyone for minor crimes.
The second example puts “lustful looking” on a par with adultery. In an age of easy access to internet pornography, this example has a particular resonance: any form of sexual depravity is destructive of right relationship. The third example on divorce is complicated by the exceptive clause, “except in the case of porneia”. Porneia referred to any illicit sexual activity. Here it probably means marriages within degrees of kinship prohibited by Jews but not prohibited by Gentiles. The question seems to have arisen as to whether couples in such unions could stay together on becoming Christian. While Jesus presents the ideal (no divorce), we have to put this teaching into a broader context. Writing to the people of Corinth on this subject, Paul allows for exceptions, since “God has called us to peace”. The fourth example is about swearing on oath. Righteousness eschews “fake news” and calls for honesty and transparency in everyday dealings. If the words we use are congruent with the intentions of our heart, we should not have to invoke God as a witness to the veracity of our claims.
Sr Veronica Lawson rsm
© The scriptural quotations are taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday & Co Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. The English translation of the Psalm Responses, the Alleluia and Gospel Verses, and the Lenten Gospel Acclamations, and the Titles, Summaries, and Conclusion of the Readings, from the Lectionary for Mass © 1997, 1981, 1968, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.