Gospel Reflection For The 23rd day of January in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
Matthew 5:20-26
20 For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21 You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. 22 But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou Fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath any thing against thee; 24 Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift. 25 Be at agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26 Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.
This is one of the hardest teachings of Jesus. How can we, as humans, never become angry with another? We will have arguments. We will be hurt. We know that our Lord tells us to “turn the other cheek” to one who even strikes us. Perhaps we could do that with enough self discipline, but how could we not be angered at the blow? Obviously, this is not humanly possible unless one became so accustomed to abuse that such offenses became expected and normal… and that is not healthy. What is Jesus teaching us?
Well, obviously, He is teaching us that through Christ all things are possible, even those things that surpass human ability. Beyond that, He is emphasizing peace and love, compassion and striving after virtue. He also says that we must be more righteous than the Jewish religious leaders who kept the Law to the letter. Our Lord gives us a new law, and that is to view all situations through the eyes of love. Love enables us to forgive. Love gives us compassion. If we exercise patience and step back from a situation we can see that the person who has hurt us is just as flawed as we are. We may be able to understand their motives if they are reasonable.
It is very important though, to remember that some people are intentionally cruel, abusive, sociopathic and criminal. We do not have to make ourselves victims. Jesus references “your brother.” Whether that is a brother by birth or a brother in Christ, that is a person who must follow the same teaching. Your brother should be one who wills good for you as you will good for him.
What do we do when our brother (or parent, spouse, etc) hurts us intentionally and repeatedly? What do we do when that person we love is so absolutely toxic and hurtful that we cannot be around them? Often, in such cases it is best to distance yourself. If you accept their abuse, you enable it…. And they sin when they abuse you, so you are aiding in their sin. While we must try to fix every relationship and reconcile, sometimes we simply cannot. There is still one thing we must do though, and that is to forgive.
We may forgive those who hurt us without ever confronting them or even telling them. Forgiveness entails letting go of that hurt. If we come to a place where we can genuinely forgive the one who hurt us, we can recover. If we do not forgive the person, we allow hate and resentment to build within us. Every time we pray the Our Father, we ask God to forgive us as we forgive others. For our own good, we must learn to forgive and pray for those who hurt us as Jesus did on the Cross when He said, “Father, forgive them…” If we do not make an honest effort to forgive those who hurt us, we will have to answer to the “judge” and the penalty described by our Lord is a foundational verse for our understanding of Purgatory. As hard as it may be to forgive those who have really hurt us in ways from which we will never recover… really ruined years of our lives… and I have experienced that… we must. How awful would it be if we have to suffer in Purgatory due to the actions of another? We have the option of either compounding the harm they did to us or doing what Jesus asked. Just as we do not wish to seek revenge for fear of earthly arrest and jail, we cannot allow our hurt and anger to affect our souls.
A Daily Catholic Devotional Reflections on the Daily Mass readings January-June, 2024. may be purchased as a .pdf directly from me using this link https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-daily-catholic-devotional-reflections.html or in paperback on Amazon amazon.com/dp/B0CPD1DC7Q
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.