Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada) Matthew 5:33-37 Do not swear: say 'Yes' if you mean Yes, 'No' if you mean No Jesus said to his disciples: ‘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 (USA) Matthew 5:33-37 I say to you, do not swear at all. Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the Evil One.” (i) Saturday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time At the root of the prohibition of oaths in today’s gospel reading is Jesus’ desire that among his followers unqualified truthfulness is required. This is one further dimension of life within God’s kingdom. The teaching of Jesus here is reflected in the letter of James, ‘do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no’ (James 5:12). Most of us would acknowledge that we do not always follow the injunction of Jesus in today’s gospel reading, ‘All you need say is “Yes” is you mean yes and “No” if you mean no’. We don’t always find it easy to be truthful, to be true to what is in our heart. Our lips do not always express what is in our heart. Throughout this section of the Sermon on the Mount there is a focus on getting what is in our heart right and allow what is in our heart to shape all we say and do. The first and most demanding task is the former, getting what is in our heart right. We need to allow the values and attitudes of the gospel to take root in our hearts. We then need the courage to be true to those values in our daily lives. This will require ‘Yes’ and meaning it to certain calls and choices and saying ‘No’ and meaning it to other calls and choices. And/Or (ii)Saturday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time In today’s gospel reading Jesus opposes the kind of oath taking that seeks to control God for one’s own purposes, swearing by heaven, God’s throne, or by earth, God’s footstool, or by Jerusalem, the city of God. The temptation to control God for one’s own purpose has been deeply rooted in the human spirit. Ancient magic was an attempt to control the spirit world for one’s own purpose, and, indeed, the same could be said of certain forms of contemporary magic. However, in the Lord’s Prayer, the only prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, Jesus calls on us to begin by surrendering ourselves to God’s purpose, ‘your name be held holy, your kingdom come, your will be done’. Jesus’ whole life teaches us that God’s purpose for our lives is ultimately life-giving. In trust we can invite God to have God’s way in our lives because that way is one that will lead to authentic life. It is not a case of manipulating God to serve our purposes but of giving ourselves over to serve God’s purpose for our lives and for his creation, after the example of Jesus, who in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed, ‘Father... not my will but yours be done’, and after the example of Mary whose response to God’s messenger was, ‘Let it be to me according to your word’. And/Or (iii) Saturday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time In the gospel reading today, Jesus seems to envisage a world in which there is no need for anyone to take an oath to show they are speaking the truth. Rather, it can be taken for granted that when people speak they are speaking truly and honestly. When they say ‘yes’ they mean ‘yes’ and when they say ‘no’ they mean know. They don’t say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ at the same time. In other words, we can trust what people say because we know it corresponds to reality or will correspond to reality. As elsewhere in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus seems to place the bar very high. At least within the community of his disciples, he holds that there should be no need for the taking of an oath because it is to be assumed that people’s word will always be reliable and trustworthy. It could be said of Jesus that he was as good as his word. He did what he said. His word could be trusted. It doesn’t need an oath to uphold it. It stands on its own. It is an authoritative word that can be relied upon. We are reading these days from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians. Towards the beginning of that letter Paul declares that ‘Jesus Christ, the Son of God… was not “Yes” and “No”, but in him it is always “Yes”. For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes”’ Jesus is the ‘Yes’ to all God’s promises in the Jewish Scriptures. He reveals God’s word to be a faithful word that can be trusted. In the gospel reading, Jesus is calling on us his disciples to speak in a way that is faithful and trustworthy, that reflects the trustworthiness of God’s word. Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland. Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie Please join us via our webcam. Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC. Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf. Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.15th June >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies onMatthew 5:33-37 for Saturday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘Do not swear at all’.
Saturday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Reflections (3)
See Also
11th March >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 5:20-26 for Friday, First Week of Lent: ‘Go, and be reconciled with your brother first’.10th February >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Mark 6:53-56 for Monday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘All those who touched him were cured’.5th May >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on John 15:1-8 for Wednesday, Fifth Week Of Eastertide: ‘I am the true vine’.13th August >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 19:3-12 for Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘They are no longer two, therefore, but one body’.