You will not enter into the kingdom of heaven

SUNDAY 16 FEBRUARY (Mt 5,17-37)

Speaking from the Gospel and speaking without the Gospel is not the same thing. Before saying a word, Jesus put it in the fire first. If it resisted fire, he uttered it. If fire consumed it, He did not say it, did not utter it and did not teach it. The Word of Christ Jesus is the true Word of God: “The way of God is perfect, the word of the Lord is purified in fire; he is a shield for those who take refuge in him” (Ps. 18 (17) 31). Today he tells his disciples: “If your justice does not exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Ancient justice was that based on the Word of God given to the Fathers. That justice now no longer saves. We need to move on to the new justice that is born of the new Word of the Gospel. Today the Gospel is the Word of justice that opens the doors of the kingdom of God. If the justice of the ancient Word of God is to be passed, much more must be passed the justice that comes from the word of men. The justice that comes from religions, from sciences, from philosophy, from the theology itself, from every mysticism and from every asceticism must also be always passed by obedience to the Word of Christ Jesus, according to all the truth to which the Holy Spirit leads. This Word of Jesus always obliges every man of every time.

“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 into 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 with him. 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.

That men can each follow the justice that comes from his own conscience – the risk of suffocating the truth in injustice is real, as Saint Paul teaches us – is a fact. That the disciple of Jesus declares all righteousness for the kingdom away, even that which comes from the word of men and even from the suffocation of the truth in injustice, is true betrayal and denial of the Word of Jesus. Jesus is declared a man of other times, an outdated Person from the past. But even the Gospel is immediately declared a Book of a far away age, a Book of prehistory of religion. But the Christian is a Christian if he remains faithful to the Word of Jesus. He abandons the Word of his Master and he is no longer his disciple. Today we are no longer disciples of Christ the Lord, because we do not walk according to his Word. Everyone follows the words of his heart.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, make us true disciples of the Word of the Crucified Lord.