Homily for June 15, 2018.
“I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away.” Matthew 5:28-29.
For some days now, we have been reading from the Sermon on the Mount; the high points of Jesus’ teaching. He began with the beatitudes and went on to explain that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it. As such, even though it may seem as if Jesus is raising the standards set by Old Testament, he is only revealing their hidden meaning.
It is not enough to say, “Thou shall not kill.” We must realize that killing begins with anger against a person, which then graduates into hatred, and then heightens up till the actual killing is done. Yesterday Jesus told us that whoever insults another is already committing sin liable to hellfire. This means that we cannot afford to bear grudges in our heart at all not to mention harbouring anger.
Today, Jesus comes into an aspect of life that is quite delicate in that it has to do with the fulfilment of the Divine mandate at creation; “Be fruitful and multiply.” When it comes to human sexuality, adultery was considered as the ultimate sin ranking on the same level as killing but then, Jesus explains that adultery does not only happen when sex occurs but even with merely looking at a person lustfully.
Just as we cannot afford to store anger in our heart, Jesus says we should not even dare to allow lust in our heart. It all begins with the heart. Hence, Jesus would say, “Blessed are the pure in heart…” Matthew 5:8. Later on, Jesus would say, it is not what we eat that defiles us, but what we keep in our mind. “For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.” Matthew 15:19.
Are you having trouble controlling your sexual appetite? Do you find yourself falling into the sin of adultery by thoughts, words or actions? Are you struggling with fornication, masturbation and unchastity in one form or another? Jesus has the solution for you. He says: “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away.” Matthew 5:29.
What does this mean? How do we pluck out our eyes? By deliberately controlling the contents of our hearts. The heart (mind) is very powerful. Each time we look at a person, let us try to see God in that person. Let the person’s beauty or perfection become a reminder to us of God’s beauty and majesty. Once the battle is won in our minds, avoiding sin becomes very easy.
Lastly, from this same passage of scripture, we can see that Jesus Christ does not support divorce. In fact, he ranks it as a sin equal to adultery itself. This teaching of Jesus is one of his hardest; one which many still struggle to accept today.
What is quite clear here is that Jesus lived in a patriarchal society; a society where the man had more power than the woman; a society where men were counted and women and children were excluded (as though they had no rights). It had become a custom in those days that a man would marry a woman and without any provocation wake up one morning and suddenly feels like changing her like a man would desire to change his car.
Divorce was so easy those days; as easy as writing a certificate and the woman had no choice other than to go while the man moves on to the next one and then to the next again. Jesus was responding to a situation of grave injustice against the womenfolk. He needed us to understand that marriage is meant for life and not simply for the fun of it.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, give me the power to keep my body pure and fitting as your temple. Amen.
*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the 10th Week of Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 1 Kings 19:11-16, Psalm 27:7-14, Matthew 5:27-32).*
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