This is a homily that was given by Deacon Steve O’Neill for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary time. We are sharing it tonight due to its focus on sin and our call to righteousness.
This past Sunday’s reading from Matthew is surely one of the longer Gospel readings we hear in Ordinary Time, and there is certainly a lot to unpack. In reflecting on this week’s readings, though, I kept coming back to that first reading from the Book of Sirach and thinking how powerful it is, how clear and compact its message is. What Sirach tells us is what Jesus reinforces in the Gospel, and that is that sin is always a choice. Sin is always a choice.
If you choose, you can keep the commandments, they will save you.
“Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him,” Sirach writes.
We think of our free will as a great gift, which it is. It appeals to our American sensibilities that we should be free to make our own decisions, and that God did not create us all as holy robots. The evil that is present in our world today is sometimes enough to make us wish that maybe God had made us all perfect and incapable of sinning, but we know it’s not that simple.
But just as God does not impose goodness on us, he also does not force us to sin or encourage us to do wrong. As Sirach writes, “No one does he command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin.” Sometimes it’s tempting for us to throw up our hands and act as if we’re helpless, as if we’re somehow hard-wired to behave the way we do.
Sin can become habitual and ingrained in our lives such that we might feel like it’s part of our very nature, something we can’t overcome. But Jesus challenges that excuse in today’s Gospel. If I want to blame my sin on my right eye or my right hand, Jesus says “Fine, go ahead and tell yourself that it’s your eye or your hand that causes you to sin. But you need to take that sin and its consequences seriously enough that you’ll take definitive action in order to root out that source of sin in your life.”
We are not helpless against that sin, Jesus tells us. We have the ability to overcome our sins because Jesus himself carried those very sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. That new life that leads to eternal life is God’s will for every one of us.
We start living that life from the inside out, and that’s what Jesus is getting at with his series of “You have heard it was said, but I say to you” statements. Outward appearances without an inner foundation are just that – appearances. That’s why the Scribes and Pharisees frustrated our Lord so much.
Matthew’s Gospel is thought to have been written originally for Christians who had first been Jews, new Christians who were grounded in the scripture and traditions of the ancient
Hebrews. So Matthew’s Gospel understandably emphasizes Jesus as the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Just as Moses went up Mount Sinai to bring the Ten Commandments to the people, Jesus goes up on the mountain to present the fulfillment of that Law to the people. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets,” he tells us, “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” In the eyes of the Lord, the Hebrew Scriptures are foundational, truths and precepts to be built upon rather than discarded. But merely trying to keep the precepts of the ancient law
was not enough.
When Jesus tells his listeners that their righteousness had to surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees, many would’ve wondered how could anyone be holier than the Pharisees? These guys were observant of even the smallest details of the law. They fasted. They said their prayers so that everyone could hear them. They even wore tiny scrolls of the Ten
Commandments on their headbands so they could observe the law that said “keep these commandments always before your eyes.”
But here’s the thing – the righteousness Jesus calls us to isn’t about performative externals. Jesus explains that our external actions must be a reflection of what we really are like on the inside. It is not enough for others to see us performing actions we label as “Christian,” as if life is a series of photo ops. Our whole attitude in life must be that of a sincere and searching follower of Christ and everything that entails. We may not always get it right, but it’s in the trying that we progress.
Jesus is telling us that if we’re seeking righteousness, we can’t insult or slander or demonize a person or group of people and then justify ourselves by pointing out that we did, in fact, refrain from murdering them. That’s not how it works. As people often say, ‘words matter.’ What we say to and about others is a reflection of what’s in our hearts. And we’re accountable for that.
Jesus himself says so in chapter 12 of Matthew when he says “For from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. A good person brings forth good out of a store of goodness, but an evil person brings forth evil out of a store of evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak. By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Lent begins tomorrow. In his message for this upcoming season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, Pope Leo offers the following suggestion, an echo of Jesus’ Gospel teaching. He
writes,
I would like to invite you to a very practical and frequently unappreciated form of
abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor. Let us
begin by disarming our language, avoiding harsh words and rash judgement, refraining
from slander and speaking ill of those who are not present and cannot defend
themselves.Instead, let us strive to measure our words and cultivate kindness and respect in our
families, among our friends, at work, on social media, in political debates, in the media
and in Christian communities. In this way, words of hatred will give way to words of
hope and peace.
Our world needs more hope. Our world needs more peace. The issues and conflicts of our day
can seem far outside of any ability we might have as individuals to influence one way or the
other, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t choose to try. Each of us plays a part, no matter
how small.
Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.
Image: “Sunset” (CC BY 2.0) by Sunny Hanzpal
Deacon Steve O’Neill was ordained for service to the Archdiocese of Washington in June 2013 and serves at St. Andrew Apostle in suburban Maryland. After four years in the Marine Corps and three years at the University of Maryland (where met Traci, now his wife of 30+ years, and earned a degree in English), he has worked as an analyst with the Federal government. Deacon Steve and Traci have two sons and two daughters and three grandchildren.
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