Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the gospel that is part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 17-37) which Jesus must have preached many times in different locations and in different ways, he is not interested in making the law lighter. He came to ensure that the law accomplishes an interior transformation within us. The law ought to help us be more authentic, deeper, not only concerned with externals, but with the reality of what is in my heart. This is what people see or don’t see in us, even if they cannot articulate it.
It is very bold of Christ to say that I have come to fulfill the law, which means he has come to make it fruitful, to bear an abundance of fruit of charity, of self-donation, of true acts of faith. So by saying that he can fulfill the law he is either totally crazy or divine. He has an extraordinary relationship with the law: he wrote it, it is his. To fulfill the law does not happen naturally, like a tree blossoms and gives fruit. One has to interiorize it in order to enter the Kingdom, which is not a reward for keeping the law, but by living the law one enters the Kingdom today.
So Jesus gives us several examples in this gospel to help us see what is in our hearts. When I call my brother a fool he says we are killing him. Anger always intends murder, more or less explicitly. It is not that one gets mad once in a blue moon, but one who has the habit of anger. Jesus is speaking about the habit of being angry, an unfounded and, at times, an uncontrollable anger. God cannot dwell in a heart that is externally pure but inside is full of vices.
To call a brother or sister a fool, an imbecile means it would be better if you were dead. The world would be better off without you. Who am I to dismiss a person in such a way? Our words are capable of really killing the other. Jesus is deepening the law. He is saying do not physically kill, and, also, do not kill with your words or your thoughts, which are just as bad.
To offer a gift is the symbol of one’s heart, which is the real gift that your sacrifice intends. Jesus is saying we cannot do this authentically if anger is inside of us. Drop the gift and go and reconcile. Don’t put it off for a minute. When someone steals or speaks badly of people to others, he/she has to make amends, to repair the damage, to make restitution, if they are sincere about asking for forgiveness.
Our gaze is never neutral. It is meant to judge, or to possess, or to enjoy, or to love, or to exploit. Jesus says, if the eye is an occasion of sin, pluck it out. He does not mean physically, but to have total governance over oneself. I know many men who smashed their phones or threw the laptop out the window because it was an occasion of sin for them, to look at stupid things on the internet. When they got a flip phone without internet they were much happier; they sinned less. Chaos reigns if the servants, the body, or parts of the body, are laying traps for the king all day long. He cannot abdicate and allow the servants to do whatever they want.
One who does not do violence to him/herself is either spiritually dead or apathetic or narcissistic. If there is not interior battle then one must be under the allusion that all is perfect. This cannot be true. The Christian life is always a battle and a hero has his/her wounds.
Any time in life, but especially old age, is a beautiful time to be molded into a living stone for God’s Church. As we age we are more prey to aches and pains, lapses in memory, and sickness. Let all of us submit ourselves to God so he can shape us. Any age is a beautiful time to place ourselves in his hands, who alone knows what is best for us.