The Catholic Calendar for Thursday, June 15, 2006
Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
1 Kings 18:41-46
Psalm 65:10, 11, 12-13
Matthew 5:20-26

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

One thing about the teachings of Christ, He was always pretty direct in His messages. Through stories or parables and examples we understand the concepts quite clearly.

Today in the gospel of Matthew, we learn that Christ expects us to have great integrity, to be sincere about our faith. He clearly points out that we cannot be “two-faced” with Him. If we approach the altar with our gifts and recall that we have had a disagreement with our brother that is unresolved, we had better do our "homework" first. We are to leave our gift and first reconcile; then come back to the altar with our gift. (see Matthew 5:23-24)

It is interesting that Christ speaks of "leaving your gifts at the altar" and then go reconcile. Perhaps it refers to the fact that Christ is always there waiting for our return, as opposed to saying, "Get out of here!" The message also implies that we had better do a frequent examination of our own behavior, because yes, Christ loves us, but He also loves my brother, and He expects that we act in a loving manner towards one another. We might ask ourselves these questions: "Am I consistent in my behavior?" and "Is my behavior the same in regards to my relationship with Christ, with my friends at the church, as it is with my family and co-workers?"

- Joan of Jesus, OCDS
(jmurphy at utica dot edu)

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