GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 17TH JUNE 2017
SATURDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING: 2Corinthians 5:14-21
PSALM: Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12
GOSPEL: Matthew 5:33-37
THEME: TO SWEAR OR NOT TO SWEAR
About one hundred and eighty years before the birth of Christ, a Jew by name Ben Sira gave an excellent piece of advice to his fellow Jews concerning swearing: “Do not accustom your mouth to oaths, and do not habitually utter the name of the Holy One; for as a servant who is continually examined under torture will not lack bruises, so also the man who always swears and utters the Name will not be cleansed from sin” (Sir. 23:9-10). He proceeded to give three reasons why swearing can have unpleasant repercussions: (1) A person incurs sin when he does not fulfil a sincere oath that he has made. (2) A person incurs double sin when an oath is lightly sworn. (3) A person courts calamities for his household when the oath is insincere ( cf. Sirach 23:13-14).
The Gospel text for today is a continuation of the “Sermon on the mount” and the fourth of the six antithesis (cf.Mt. 5:21-48 ). Concerning oaths, Jesus had this to say: “Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black” (Mt. 5:33-36).
Where there is truthfulness, oaths are unnecessary because the purpose of an oath, by calling God as a witness, is to guarantee truthfulness. It all boils down to integrity. When you have established yourself as a person whose ‘yes’ is always yes and whose ‘no’ is no, you do not need to swear to make a point. Integrity establishes you as a trustworthy person.
In Christ Jesus, as Paul says in the First Reading, we are a new creation. Our association with Christ who is Truth should make us truthful at all times.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, may my way of life guarantee the truthfulness of whatever I say so that I would not need to swear in order to convince someone. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).