[“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] (Mt. 5:21-22a)
In the course of His
teaching and preaching, Jesus often criticizes the current religious practices
of the Jewish religious leaders. His comments in today’s Gospel reading are no
different. Jesus advocates for the removal of sin by its roots and not
merely treating its symptoms. He brings to the attention of His listeners a
cause of murder, namely anger. So in order to be righteous one must not merely
avoid murder, but also one must control their anger. Jesus wants
conversion of hearts, and not just conversion of legalistic action.
When visiting his
attempted assassin in prison, Pope St. John Paul II remarked, “The difference
between you and me is that you got caught.” Of course St. John Paul II did not
try to kill anyone, but he recognized that all of us, if we do not moderate our
anger, have the capacity to attempt something seriously sinful.
To claim, “I haven’t
killed anyone, so I’m a pretty good person”, is not acceptable for a Christian.
Jesus wants our hearts to be transformed by His grace, and through that inner
transformation our actions.
What areas of your
heart is God challenging you to change?
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