The Catholic Calendar for Thursday, June 9, 2005
Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Ephrem, deacon and doctor of the Church

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
2 Corinthians 3:15--4:1,3-6
Psalm 85:9-14
Matthew 5:20-26

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

"...our gospel is...veiled only to those who are perishing
...the god of this world has blinded
the minds of unbelievers." (2 Corinthians 4: 3-4)

In a recent reflection appearing on this web page, Christ warns us of sin's deadly consequence, the loss of eternal life. Many modern sermons, in contrast, ignore Christ's words and instead sympathize with secular views; they create the false impression that God's Commandments are outdated, that the Law is too demanding and incapable of being fulfilled. To this latter idea, Christ in today's Gospel not only affirms the relevance of God's Law but actually expands the scope of its initial demands.

Jesus tells us that if we harbor hatred and anger toward anyone, wish them harm or malign them in the presence of others or within their secret hearts, is as serious a sin as committing murder. It is the disposition of sinful hearts, the absence of God's love within them, that predisposes humans to destructive behavior. Scripture establishes that God excludes no one from His love; it is we who insist upon living in disobedience to His word, we who separate ourselves from Him.

The reason Christ insists on our amending our thoughts as well as our actual words and deeds is that all sin originates within the hearts and minds of man; thoughts inevitably lead to actions or they inwardly corrode our peace and embitter us toward others. God created us to be vessels filled with His love to overflowing. God's Law has no purpose other than to guide our living in joy and peace with one another and in consequence with Him.

O Blessed Lord,
we ask you to instill in our hearts
the will to follow Your holy Word
and to pour out upon us
the grace we need in order to carry out Your will
rather than our own. Amen.

- Marie Bocko, OCDS
(mlbocko at earthlink dot net)

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