Homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We continue our movement through the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount today. We began with the familiar Beatitudes. Then, last week, the Lord challenged us to become the salt of the earth and the light of the world — that is —to put the Beatitudes into practice, wherein 

- salt becomes a symbol for evangelization of the world -and -
- light will be a symbol for the world’s sanctification.

Today, He comes to speak to us of God’s commandments. In this Teaching, we are instructed that the Beatitudes are not meant to replace the Commandments, but to establish a context in which

- to receive them
- to understand them  - and -
- to put them into practice…

for He says, “I have not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.”

In introducing His lesson He makes an unexpected statement about righteousness — that is — holiness. Although He is usually at odds with the Scribes and the Pharisees, He begins by giving them a veiled compliment, saying: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees…” Here He is granting that these fellows do, indeed, possess some righteousness. But to Christ this righteousness is rudimentary and incomplete, based in an all-consuming observance of the Law.

We will remember that He has said that He has not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it, and so He indicates that we must move beyond mere observance of the Law in order to fulfill it. He then gives a study in which we can come to know the Wisdom and Love in God’s Will for us.

In this lengthy passage, the Lord gives us a comprehensive approach to understanding God’s Commandments by moving beyond simply what the Law forbids, toward what the Law encourages, in order to discover the Spirit of the Law
— which is — God’s hidden Wisdom and His Holy Will as that which is the best and highest good for humanity: a depth of understanding that people heretofore did not realize.

His examples of the Commandments, as He presents them, don’t appear to be in any particular order, such as we have memorized them. We hear three of them this week, and will hear two more next week.

He helps us to move beyond what is known as “prohibition-first” understanding, which is a statement beginning with the words, “Thou shalt not…” thereby informing us what to avoid, and introduces: “… but I say to you…” revealing to us what must be done positively in order to fulfill God’s Law in wisdom and charity in order to live a life of holiness.

A prohibition-first approach to God’s Law in the Commandments is good in and of itself, but raises the lesser question of avoidance or limitation. However, the Lord’s instruction that begins the statement with, “… but I say to you…” raises more pertinent moral questions such as, “How shall I live?” — or — “What good must I do?”

The answer to this question must come from a conscience that is both formed and informed: informed by the Lord’s words in the Gospels and by the Teaching of the Church, and formed by prayer, Grace, and self-mastery. Therefore, we can never let ourselves off the moral hook, simply because our society allows, and even condones immorality. We must live beyond the law of the land, not as outlaws, of course, but as people who fulfill, and even supersede the law in wisdom and charity.

The Wise Man Sirach tells us in today’s First Reading: “If you choose, you can keep the Commandments…” suggesting that he knows that we are constantly presented with moral choices and serious temptations.

He presents these choices as moral opposites, such as:
- fire and water
- good and evil
- life and death

He summarizes his brief lesson by reminding us that:
- God’s eyes are upon us
- God gives no one license to sin —and —
- God understands our moral quandary…

and gives us Grace to make the choice for the higher good if we want to. And then, if we trust in God, God will save us from our own bad judgment and from the eternal consequences of our bad moral choices.

So, it is life on higher ground to which Our Lord calls us, because that “higher ground” puts us that much closer to heaven.