Torah reading:
Exodus 20:1-21
1 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You shall not have other gods beside me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; 5 you shall not bow down before them or serve them. For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; 6 but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 You shall not invoke the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. For the Lord will not leave unpunished anyone who invokes his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy. 9 Six days you may labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your work animal, or the resident alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 You shall not kill.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
18 Now as all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blast of the shofar and the mountain smoking, they became afraid and trembled. So they took up a position farther away 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we shall die.” 20 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid, for God has come only to test you and put the fear of him upon you so you do not sin.” 21 So the people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.
The Word of The Lord
Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
1 Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
4 You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept.
5 Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
17 Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
18 Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
33 Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,
that I may exactly observe them.
34 Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Haftarah reading:
Sirach 15:15-20
If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you;
if you trust in God, you too shall live;
he has set before you fire and water
to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.
Before man are life and death, good and evil,
whichever he chooses shall be given him.
Immense is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is mighty in power, and all-seeing.
The eyes of God are on those who fear him;
he understands man’s every deed.
No one does he command to act unjustly,
to none does he give license to sin.
The Word of The Lord
Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 119: 1b, 44-45, 47-48, 54-56, 57-58
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
44 I will keep your law always,
for all time and forever.
45 I will walk freely in an open space
because I cherish your precepts.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
47 I delight in your commandments,
which I dearly love.
48 I lift up my hands to your commandments;
I study your statutes, which I love.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
54 Your statutes become my songs
wherever I make my home.
55 Even at night I remember your name
in observance of your law, Lord.
56 This is my good fortune,
for I have kept your precepts.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
57 My portion is the Lord;
I promise to observe your words.
58 I entreat you with all my heart:
have mercy on me in accord with your promise.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Epistorial reading:
1 Corinthians 2:6-10
Brothers and sisters:
We speak a wisdom to those who are mature,
not a wisdom of this age,
nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.
Rather, we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden,
which God predetermined before the ages for our glory,
and which none of the rulers of this age knew;
for, if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written:
What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard,
and what has not entered the human heart,
what God has prepared for those who love him,
this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
Alleluia
cF. Matthew 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you O Lord.
Matthew 5:17-37
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you,
whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment;
and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’
will be answerable to the Sanhedrin;
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’
will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin,
tear it out and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.
And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
“It was also said,
Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.
But I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife – unless the marriage is unlawful –
causes her to commit adultery,
and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
“Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
Do not take a false oath,
but make good to the Lord all that you vow.
But I say to you, do not swear at all;
not by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Do not swear by your head,
for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the evil one.”
The Gospel of The Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
Homily
By Jack Danyá Kemplin
“Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law”
and
“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus did not come to abolish the law, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part of the law will pass away.
Our righteousness is to surpass that of the Scribes (that is the Sadducees/priests) and the Pharisees (the Rabbis/teachers).
What does that mean? You see, in Matthew 23: 2-3, Jesus says,
“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”
The Scribes and the Pharisees taught the Word of God, and externally they liked to appear as the most righteous followers of it, but inwardly they were not following it, they created this façade of following it for their own self exoltation, so that others would praise their (false) piety. Nehemiah talks of this happening earlier in his day as well: the wealthy Israelites were claiming to righteously be following the law, yet they were going by the word of it and using that as a loophole to not follow the spirit of it; they were following exactly what it said on the surface, but they were not looking deeper and following what it was truly telling them. Jesus is pointing out this same thing in today’s reading, when the law says, “You shall not murder.” It is calling us to not hate one another; when it says, “You shall not commit adultery.” It is calling us to not be lustful, to not idolise, objectify, or mistreat one another. Jesus is calling us to not be stuck looking at the letter of the law, to not be stuck at the surface, but he is calling us to go deeper, to get down to the true spirit and meaning of it, and to truly follow it, not just externally on the surface, but deep within us. We are called to a deeper relationship with God, to truly know him, and to not be a hypocrite who only claims to follow him on the outside, but to truly trust and follow him, that is to have faith in and be faithful to him, not for our own glory, but for His.
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
John 14:21 “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
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