Gospel of 13 June 2020
Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of St Anthony of Padua
Matthew 5:33-37
Do not swear: say 'Yes' if you mean Yes, 'No' if you mean No
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you: do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne; or by the earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great king. Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.’
Reflexion
In today’s passage, Jesus says that the old law was interpreted to say, “do not swear falsely.” But then He points out that you should not have to swear at all. The Jews were scrupulous to the point of obsession in avoiding any mention of the name of God which would be a violation of the Second Commandment. Thus the use of various substitutes. But, Jesus makes the point that even if one were to swear by heaven, by the earth, by Jerusalem, it would still be a flimsy excuse. Swearing on any account exposes the truth about ourselves – at our core we are untruthful.
Just like divorce which was condemned in yesterday’s passage, an oath is a reflection of a man’s sinful state. It shows his tendency to lie, his untrustfulness. And so to overcome this and enforce the truth we insist that oaths be taken. But the truth is that the oath betrays man’s distrust of his fellow man. If we are inclined to trust, to believe others, to take them at their word, we would have no need for oaths. But today, we live in a very different age, an age where not only business is no longer done with a handshake, but even an oath or a written contract is not good enough. We live in a world that has lost much of its integrity.
So what is integrity? The word integrity implies a wholeness of person. A person of integrity does not live a double life, he is not a different person in different circumstances. He is the same person in private, as he is in public. Integrity is the opposite of hypocrisy. As Christians, we must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact.
Many are troubled by the crisis of integrity we see in the world, in society and even within the Church today. We have grown disillusioned with our leaders. Where can we look to for inspiration and emulation? The answer is simply Jesus. Jesus is the perfect example of a man of integrity. That is why He has no need for oaths or contracts. His words are perfectly matched by His actions. In Jesus, we see the heart of integrity – it is truth. Truth is a person. Since Jesus is the Truth, He is the only way to attain eternal life. Nobody comes to the Father unless he goes through Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
I think we can all agree that what the world direly needs today are persons, Christian men and women of integrity. So, let us, without regret, lead lives that are worthy. Our call is, to do as we teach, to do as we say, and to act as we teach others to act. Our words matched by our actions should be sufficient. We do not need to hide behind the cover of oaths. The willingness to model Christ's character is far more vital for us today than the willingness to just preach it because at the end of the day, we will be judged not just by our words but by our willingness to put those words into action!