Mean What You Say
Jun. 14: Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Gospel reminds me of a scene in Alice in Wonderland.1 During the Mad Tea Party, the March Hare tells Alice to say what she means. She replies that she does, “at least I mean what I say—that’s the same thing, you know.”
The Hatter replies that it's not, and the following exchange ensues:
“Not the same thing a bit!” said the Hatter. “You might just as well say that ‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’!”
“You might just as well say,” added the March Hare, “that ‘I like what I get’ is the same thing as ‘I get what I like’!”
“You might just as well say,” added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, “that ‘I breathe when I sleep’ is the same thing as ‘I sleep when I breathe’!”
Reading 1
2 Cor 5:14-21
Brothers and sisters: The love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Christ came to Earth to begin a new creation, in us.
Through baptism, we receive grace from the Holy Spirit, and we should be thankful for that. But that’s not the end of things. Paul says we’re to be “ambassadors for Christ,” so others can be created anew, too. Our example is how unbelievers see Christ in the world. It’s a big responsibility.
Today’s Gospel gives us just one case of how “God [is] appealing through us.”
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
R.(8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Although the sacraments imbue us with grace, we’ll never be perfect (in this life). Thankfully, God allows us to start over, any time we need to, through confession and reconciliation.
Alleluia
Ps 119:36a, 29b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Incline my heart, O God, to your decrees;
and favor me with your law.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
It's not always as easy to abandon everything, so we should ask God for help to do so.
Gospel
Mt 5:33-37
Jesus said to his disciples: "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."
Swearing you'll do something doesn't actually affect the end result. All it really does is make one wonder if all those times you didn't swear meant you were lying.
Jesus wants us to be straightforward, where a "yes" is a good as a promise. We shouldn't need to swear by anything. We should say what we mean and mean what we say.
My daughter's favorite book, so I’ve read it dozens of times at this point.