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| “Allegory of Wisdom” by Orazio Samacchini, ca. 1560’s |
if you trust in God, you too shall live;
he has set before you fire and water
to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.
Before man are life and death, good and evil,
whichever he chooses shall be given him.
Immense is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is mighty in power, and all-seeing.
The eyes of God are on those who fear him;
he understands man’s every deed.
No one does he command to act unjustly,
to none does he give license to sin.
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Commentary on Sir 15:15-20
"But, along with free will, the Lord also gave man the commandments (v. 15). The law of God does not coerce human freedom, because it does not restrain man’s ability to choose, but it does show him how to make best use of his free will. The commandments of the Lord protect true freedom. John Paul II spells this out 'Man’s “genuine moral autonomy” in no way means the rejection but rather the acceptance of the moral law, of God’s command: “The Lord God gave this command to the man ...‘” (Genesis 2:16). ‘Human freedom and God’s law meet and are called to intersect’, in the sense of man’s free obedience to God and of God’s completely gratuitous benevolence towards man” ('Veritatis splendor', 41)."" [5]
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
and keep your words.
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
that I may exactly observe them.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
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Commentary on Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
The entire work is in praise of the law, and the joys to be found in keeping it. It is not "legalism," but a love and desire for the word of God in Israel's law, which is the expression of the Lord's revelation of himself and his will for man.
Reading 2: 1 Corinthians 2:6-10
We speak a wisdom to those who are mature,
not a wisdom of this age,
nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.
Rather, we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden,
which God predetermined before the ages for our glory,
and which none of the rulers of this age knew;
for, if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written:
What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard,
and what has not entered the human heart,
what God has prepared for those who love him,
this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
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Commentary on 1 Cor 2:6-10
Concluding, St. Paul paraphrases Isaiah 64:4. “Isaiah marvels that no one has ever seen or heard a God like Yahweh, who is always faithful to deliver those who hope in him. The final words of this quotation are not from Isaiah but seemingly from Sirach 1:10, where God’s unsearchable wisdom is a gift promised to those who love him. Paul draws Isaiah and Sirach together to stress that what God has long prepared in secret he has now made known to the world through the spirit (CCC 1027).” [6]
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Gospel: Matthew 5:17-37
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you,
whoever is angry with brother
will be liable to judgment;
and whoever says to 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.
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.
You shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin,
tear it out and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.
And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.
But I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife - unless the marriage is unlawful -
causes her to commit adultery,
and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
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
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.”
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Commentary on Mt 5:17-37
In this early encounter between Jesus’ mission and the law of Moses, we are told that Jesus came to “fulfill” the law, to bring it to perfection as the messiah. He supports the rabbinical teaching of the time, which separates the 613 individual precepts of the law found in the Pentateuch into “great and small,” based upon their seriousness, when he refers to breaking the least of the commandments. The passage is continued in almost Mosaic style by saying that those who follow the law will be great in heaven. This draws a distinction from those who would break the law being least in heaven.
Those who believed that Jesus came to destroy the Jewish faith and laws are refuted. The Lord tells them that he did not come to destroy the law, even though he disagreed with the way some of those laws were being implemented. Rather he came to fulfill it, essentially to give the law a reinterpretation through his own revelation.
Verses 20-26 give the first of six examples in St. Matthew’s Gospel of conduct demanded of the Christian disciple. The first three take a commandment of Mosaic law and deepen the meaning. Here the Lord takes “You shall not kill” (quoted from Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17) to a new level. He tells us that even anger brings a judgment from God. He traces the logic from thought of vulgar or abusive words to violent action. In this translation, the Greek word "raqa" is used to indicate deep insult. "Where the Jewish law forbids the action, Christian law forbids the antecedents as well. The passage continues with the remedy for this action and a foundation for the sacrament of reconciliation. He instructs us to be reconciled with a person with whom we have bad feelings before coming to the altar. The consequences of failing to do so, he warns, are judgment and punishment.
In verses 27-32 “The Old Testament commandment that a bill of divorce be given to the woman assumes the legitimacy of divorce itself. It is this that Jesus denies. (Unless the marriage is unlawful): this "exceptive clause," as it is often called, occurs also in Matthew 19:9, where the Greek is slightly different. There are other sayings of Jesus about divorce that prohibit it absolutely (see Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18; cf 1 Cor 7:10, 11b), and most scholars agree that they represent the stand of Jesus. Matthew's "exceptive clauses" are understood by some as a modification of the absolute prohibition. It seems, however, that the unlawfulness that Matthew gives as a reason why a marriage must be broken refers to a situation peculiar to his community: the violation of Mosaic law forbidding marriage between persons of certain blood and/or legal relationship (Lev 18:6-18). Marriages of that sort were regarded as incest (porneia), but some rabbis allowed Gentile converts to Judaism who had contracted such marriages to remain in them. Matthew's "exceptive clause" is against such permissiveness for Gentile converts to Christianity; cf. the similar prohibition of porneia in Acts 15:20, 29. In this interpretation, the clause constitutes no exception to the absolute prohibition of divorce when the marriage is lawful.”[7]
CCC: Mt 5:17-19 577, 592, 1967; Mt 5:17 2053; Mt 5:20 2054; Mt 5:21-22 2054, 2257; Mt 5:21 2262, 2302; Mt 5:22-39 2262; Mt 5:22 678, 1034, 2302; Mt 5:23-24 2608, 2792, 2841, 2845; Mt 5:24 1424; Mt 5:27-28 2330, 2336, 2380; Mt 5:28 1456, 2513, 2528; Mt 5:29-30 226; Mt 5:29 1034; Mt 5:31-32 2382; Mt 5:32 2380; Mt 5:33-34 581, 2141, 2153; Mt 5:33 592, 2463; Mt 5:37 2153, 2338, 2466
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OR
Shorter Form: Matthew 5:20-22a, 27-28, 33-34a, 37
“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you,
whoever is angry with brother
will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
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.
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the evil one.”
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Commentary on Mt 5:20-22a, 27-28, 33-34a, 37
"In comparing the justice of the Pharisees to his own, Jesus is contrasting the actual circle of the willing listeners who surround him to those others who are encapsulated within their own idea of religious observance. The Pharisees keep the law without understanding the end of the law. Jesus' disciples are to imitate him by becoming living law, in imitation of himself. How moving, and yet terrible, is Jesus' use throughout this passage of the second person plural: 'You here who are listening to me: now you have no excuse for saying you did not know. My word has addressed you personally. You have been awakened! You have been admitted to my secrets. There is no going back.'" [8]
CCC: Mt 5:20 2054; Mt 5:21-22 2054, 2257; Mt 5:21 2262, 2302; Mt 5:22-39 2262; Mt 5:22 678, 1034, 2302; Mt 5:27-28 2330, 2336, 2380; Mt 5:28 1456, 2513, 2528; Mt 5:33-34 581, 2141, 2153; Mt 5:33 592, 2463; Mt 5:37 2153, 2338, 2466
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Reflection:
[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture is “Allegory of Wisdom” by Orazio Samacchini, ca. 1560’s.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[5] The Navarre Bible: “Wisdom Books,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp. 435-36.
[6] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p. 287.
[7] NAB Footnote on Matthew 5:27ff.
[8] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume I. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 1996 p. 217.
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