Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading 1: Sir 15:15-20
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
Reading 2: 1 Cor 2:6-10
Gospel: Mt 5:17-37
The Book of Sirach is also known in our bible as the Book of Ecclesiasticus. “Ecclesiasticus” comes from the Greek designation for the book, “Liber Ecclesiasticus,” which means “Church Book” and refers to the extensive use the early church made of this book in presenting moral teaching to the faithful. But don’t confuse Ecclesiasticus with Ecclesiastes, which is a separate book of the Old Testament.
Sirach is a book of moral teaching which shows great love for the wisdom of God, the Mosaic Law, the priesthood, divine worship and Jewish tradition. It treats of many subjects such as poverty and wealth, friendship, proper worship as well as the Law and many social customs of the time. It is believed that this book was originally written in Hebrew in Jerusalem around 200 B.C. under the title “The Wisdom of the Son of Sirach.” The original work was lost and the version we have in the bible is a Greek translation of the original by the grandson of the author who translated the original in 132 B.C.
Sirach is one of those seven Old Testament books not found in the Hebrew canon and is rejected in many Protestant traditions. As mentioned in a previous commentary, there were four criteria that must have been met for a book to be considered sacred in the Hebrew tradition:
- It had to have been originally written in Hebrew.
- It had to have been written before the time of Ezra (approx. 450 B.C.)
- It had to have been written in the Holy Land.
4) It could contain nothing that was contrary to the Law or the “Torah” (the first 5 books of the Old Testament). Sirach probably failed the second criteria as it was originally thought to have been written about 200 B.C.
As mentioned above, the Book of Sirach shows tremendous respect for the wisdom of God and the Law that comes from that wisdom. Our reading this week emphasizes the Law and the choice that humanity must make; to keep the commandments or to reject them. Humanity must choose between life and death, good and evil, between keeping the Law and abandoning the Law. Whichever one a person chooses will be given to him; so, don’t blame God if you don’t make it to heaven.
God’s purpose in creating the nation of Israel in the Old Testament was to manifest His presence in the world. Most people of the time were pagans, worshiping many gods. But it seems that God’s plan was to create one nation of people, and to teach that people that there is only one God and, by worshiping that one God, make them more prosperous than all the nations around them. Then the other nations would take notice and come to realize that the Jewish God is the only God. That seems to have been God’s plan and would have been successful had the Jews remained faithful, which they failed to do, and they suffered for their transgression. So, God’s plan seems to have been that God was to become known through observance of His Law and through the prosperity that comes from that observance.
Notice how our Responsorial Psalm continues the theme of following God’s law: “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord.”
For our gospel passage this week we have a long and a short version. I eliminated the short version above to save space, but both are from the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 5 of Matthew in a section entitled “Teaching about the law.” Jesus began by telling his disciples that he has come, not to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. And that not the smallest part of the law will be changed. In the original Greek of this passage that “smallest part” of the law was the Greek word “Iota.” In other words, not one iota of the law will be changed. Then he told them that unless their righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees, they will not enter the kingdom of heaven. The Scribes and Pharisees, and many of the Jews of the time, interpreted the law literally, with little or no thought to the INTENT of the law. Then Jesus delineated some of those laws and to show their true meaning in the eyes of God.
For example: the law said, “You shall not kill.” To which many could have responded: “I haven’t killed anyone, so I am without blame.” But Jesus said that even hatred in your heart is the equivalent of murder. If you are bringing your gift to the altar and realize you have anger in your heart directed toward someone, leave your gift and go make peace. The gift here is the gift of self, not bread wine or money, and your gift is unacceptable when you bear anger in your heart toward someone. Leave your gift and make peace, then your gift will be acceptable.
“You shall not commit adultery.” The response from most would have been “I have not committed adultery, so I am without blame.” But Jesus tells us that even taking a second look at a beautiful woman with lust in your heart is the equivalent of adultery.
Then there is the passage about divorce and remarriage which is so often misinterpreted. Jesus quoted Dt 24 wherein Moses commanded that a bill of divorce should be given to a woman who was being divorced. That passage seems to legitimize divorce by simply giving the woman a bill of divorce. But Jesus points to the intent of the law by saying: “Whoever divorces and remarries commits adultery, unless the marriage is unlawful.” Again, the Greek word in this passage that is interpreted as “unlawful” was “Pornea,” which points to incest. An incestuous marriage is an unlawful marriage in both the Jewish and Christian traditions. And why did he make this point? In many pagan societies marriage between family members was accepted as an erroneous means of “keeping the blood line pure” or keeping the money in the family. Then, some of those pagans became Christian and were now living in Christian communities in their incestuous relationships. Jesus is pointing out that incestuous marriages should never have occurred and would never have been allowed in Jewish or Christian society. In other words, there may have been a wedding, but there was never a marriage because a marriage cannot exist between close relatives. So, if those weddings had occurred in pagan societies, they could be dissolved.
That is the basis for an annulment in the Catholic church. An annulment is a statement by the church that a wedding may have occurred, but a marriage did not because one or more conditions for a covenantal, sacramental marriage were not present.
In our second reading, St. Paul tells us that he speaks of a wisdom that is “not of this age.” It is the wisdom of God, and therefore the Law of God, that must be discerned through prayerful reflection to understand the spirit of the law.
The golden thread that connects our reading from Sirach to our gospel from Matthew this week is the fulfillment of the spirit of God’s Law. We are to recognize that following the letter of the law does not always fulfill God’s intentions. We must look to the spirit of that law.
