6th Sunday of Ordinary Time A - Going beyond the Bare Minimum

My brothers and sisters, today’s readings confront us with something both empowering and uncomfortable: we are responsible for our choices. This is not easily accepted as it is common on our time to blame our faults and problems on parents, children, spouses, employers, government, immigrants and everything imaginable under the sun.

n the first reading from Sirach, we hear:
“If you choose you can keep the commandments…
Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.”
That is remarkably direct. God does not force obedience. God does not predetermine our moral direction. He sets before us life and death — and then He respects our freedom. Neither is it a message of pressure; it is a message of dignity. You and I are not puppets. We are moral beings capable of choosing life. 

In the Gospel from Matthew, continuing the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says something striking:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”
Jesus is not announcing the cancelation of the commandments, but He is bringing them to completion. But here comes the hard part: But how does He fulfill them? By moving them from the outside to the inside. Let's look at the examples He gave:

The old law said: You shall not kill.
Jesus says: If you are angry with your brother, you are already walking the path toward violence.
The old law said: You shall not commit adultery.
Jesus says: If you look with lust, the disorder has already begun in the heart.
The old law regulated behavior. Jesus wants to transform the heart.
This, essentially is the difference between minimal religion and authentic discipleship. Minimal religion asks: “What is the least I must do to avoid sin?” Authentic discipleship asks: “How can my heart become like Christ’s?”

I've often thought of those who wish to return to the 'good old days' before Vatican II. The path to salvation seemed pretty easier back then, you know, go to Mass in Latin, pray the rosary because I didn't understand the language, while father did his 'hocus pocus' (hoc est corpus meum), First Fridays,  abstaining from meat, weekly confessions and many other devotions; all good things I can still follow and do. Lumen Gentium presented the Church as both a Mystery and Communion of baptized believers and who each have specific roles and responsibilities, including our participation in the life and mission of the Church. Christianity is not a spectator sport!

Sometimes people think Christianity is just a list of rules. But today’s Gospel makes it clear: it is far more demanding than just rules alone. Jesus is not interested in surface compliance, He is after the root. He wants to form people whose inner life matches their outward profession. If you come to my home, you will find Bibles, rosaries, statues, crucifixes, religious images, religious vestments and more. These will tell you what I am (Catholic, deacon, etc) but you will only know who I am if you find love and welcome there.

Christ says: “Let your righteousness surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees.” In other words: let your goodness go deeper than appearances. Go beyond the bare minimum.

Peace,

​Deacon Michel