Gospel: Matthew 5:20-26
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. 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.”
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Reflection:
A young man who was working as a houseboy was always being insulted by
the family that he worked for. Name all the insulting words around and chances
are that it could have been already hurled against him. Eventually the young
man reached the limit of his patience so instead of doing something criminal to
the family. He just walked away from them emotionally hurting and wounded.
In the gospel Jesus reminds us to be careful with the words that we say
for it can create a permanent wound in the emotions of our fellowmen. If the
words that we will say are insulting it’s better not to say it. It’s better to
simply shut our mouths, be quite and let the anger be cured by time.
Insulting words deeply hurts the receiver and it carves a permanent
emotional wound in his being. But why do we say words that are not fit to be
said? Why are we very quick to insult and belittle? This is primarily brought
about by our arrogance, bloated egos and the feeling of superiority.
What is the cure for this unhealthy behavior? The cure is Jesus, if we
will follow Jesus and if we will allow Him to change us. He will cleanse us of
our arrogance, egotism and feeling of superiority. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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