1st Reading Sirach 15:15-20
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34 (R. 1b)
R:// "Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord"
2nd Reading 1 Corinthians 2:6-10
Gospel Matthew 5:17-37
LET GO, MAKE PEACE
Friends, Pax et Bonum! All too soon, we are in the middle of the month of February. Today happens to be the 3rd Sunday of February, 2026, the last Sunday of the first part of Ordinary Time. What it means is that very soon we shall begin another liturgical season, Lent, with Ash Wednesday. We should start tuning towards Lent. Of course, today is the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time. I propose that we briefly dwell on salient thoughts form the Gospel passage. However, it is important to stress that the first reading is from Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus) 15:15-20 and the 2nd Reading is from 1 Corinthians 2:6-10.
The Gospel passage (Matthew 5:17-37) continues last Sunday's Gospel. As it is, it is a lectio continua (continuous reading). We are still within the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7).
The first thing we should notice is Jesus' word to the disciples. Thus, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them" (Matt. 5:17). He is not going to abolish the law and the prophets. Why that point? Remember that Jesus is teaching on a Mountain (Matt. 5:1). That draws on Moses receiving the Law on Mount Sinai. Jesus would have been thought by his audience and the Matthean community to be giving something new and different from what Moses received. That will suggest that some would reject the Law given through Moses and the words of the Prophets. A new Moses should be preferred to the Moses of old. The danger is discarding the words of the Moses of Old.
Notice this! Scholars agree that Matthew was written around 80-90 AD. However, the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. In the Temple, the Law (the Torah) was read. The destruction of the Temple would suggest the end of the Torah. The author of the Gospel according to Matthew speaks to the Matthean audience and says the end of the physical Temple is not the end of the Torah and the writings of the Prophets. That could beautifully be located in the statement of Jesus: "I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them". The proper and indepth understanding of the Law and the Prophets should be seen in the life of the Christian. Jesus is not replacing the Law given through Moses. He is rather concretizing them deeply. The absence of and departure from the House of God should not mean an end of God's Word. The Word of God should be lived in daily circumstances.
The second issue regards the consideration what then do we do with ABOLISH and FULFILL? The Greek word used in the text for ABOLISH is "KATALUSAI", an amalgation of KATA (down or against) and LUSAI, from LUŌ (loose or demolish). KATALUSAI means to bring down as to demolish or to bring down something in terms of loosing it. The image presented is a kind of architecture, with the understanding that a structure or a system is being pulled down. The other word, FULFILL, is translated from the Greek word PLĒROŌ. This is actually the opposite of demolish. Plēroō is the word for filling a cup to the brim. This is building up. Instead of putting the Law aside and instead of thinking that Moses is no longer relevant because the Temple is destroyed, Jesus subtly says he has come to deepen its understanding and build up what the Law actually means for us. In fact, every dot of the Mosaic Law is relevant towards this understanding.
Why the stress on the dots? The smallest Hebrew alphabet is 'yod' ('), and the smallest Greek alphabet is 'iota' (,). The removal or alteration of any of these in a word or a sentence will change the meaning of the word and the whole sentence. The implication is that the fulfilment of the law, the deepening of the Law, is very serious that every minute detail of the Law will be considered. Nothing of the Law will be left out.
This strikes deeply because the Law, taken today as the Word of God, should be accepted in its totality. A stress of a part over the other puts us at the risk of losing the deeper and concrete understanding of it.
The third issue is an understanding of how Jesus deepens an aspect of the Law. The Gospel passage today treated three of them. However, we shall focus on Jesus' words on Anger and Murder. Jesus stated the Law on Murder. He stated the 5th Commandment: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgement'". This is taken from Exodus 20:13. In deepening that injunction, that Law, he spoke about ANGER. What's the relationship between Murder and Anger?
In the text, the author used the Greek "Orgizomenos" (ὀργιζόμενος) and was translated in terms of "being angry". Grammatically, "Orgizomenos" is put in the present middle/passive participle. The implication of the tense is that the action is an continuous one. This means that the issue of anger that Jesus treats is not a one-time, momentary issue. It is an ongoing, a habitual state, and unresolved one. It has been going on for a very long time. Whatever is sustained and become a habit is necessarily rooted in intention. The first level is the individual has harboured it to the extent it is now a habit.
In fact, such anger which is now a habit is against a brother, adelphos. Adelphos is the Greek word for people who are connected by the same umbilical cord. The action is against not yourself, but against whom you share the same nature and on whom you depend and relate to. Anger, at this level, cuts this tie. From the umbilical cord is life. If this tie is cut, death looms.
That anger moves into the second level. This second level is INSULT. The word used there is RAKA (ῥακά). This is an Aramaic term meaning "worthless". Remember that this works against the worth and dignity put on each person because of our creation in tbe image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). The implication of an insult is the attempt to reduce a person from being a human person or a being. You are not only attempting death by cutting umbilical cord. You are also reducing the God-given dignity of the person. Your fellow is no longer human.
Additionally, the anger leads to you declaring the person "a fool". Again, the Greek word used there is "Moron". This is used for the situation where a person sees a situation but cannot rationally make decisions and plan ahead. This is the inability to make a choice. Only human persons possess what it takes to rationally exercise their will. Again, it is also about an attempt to reduce the dignity of a person. This is the third level.
How then does anger relate to murder? We simply need to go back to Cain and Abel (Genesis 4). Cain harboured anger and hatred against Abel. Eventually, he killed Abel. The issue is that you possess the power to kill only that which is not of the same human dignity as yourself. If Cain could kill his brother, it presupposes that his sustained anger led him to regard his brother, Abel, as worthless and a fool. That is the danger and extent of anger. You cannot offer a sacrifice to God when you have killed and sacrificed your own human person to your god of anger. You need to relinquish. A double standard and allegiance is very unacceptable.
Therefore, Jesus says, "if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something AGAINST YOU, leave your gift there before the altar and go....". Your brother has something against you because you did something to him. Your relation with him is strained. There is death. You cannot sacrifice your brother to satisfy the god of your anger and sacrifice to God. That will be double allegiance.
Today's Gospel invites us to consider the fact that God's Law should find concrete expression in daily living. Anger, harsh words, and holding grudges may seem small, yet they quietly wound both others and ourselves. A case in point is how Cain's anger led to the loss of his brother, Abel. Jesus calls us to pause before we offer anything to God and mend the relationships we have broken, because true worship comes from a heart at peace. As we approach Lent, let us take a moment to look inward, let go of our resentment, and choose forgiveness, so that our lives can reflect God's Law working through us and bringing healing to ourselves and those around us.
Peace and Goodness
Comments
Post a Comment