Friday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time, June 14, 2024

Matthew 5, 27-32

Jesus said to his disciples:“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. 

Jesus is fulfilling the law of the old covenant here.  He fulfills the old law in two ways during his time on earth: by his words and by his deeds.  He will fulfill the old law of the Passover sacrifice and of all sacrifices with the offering of himself on the Cross.  Here, he fulfills the laws of the old covenant with his words, the Lawgiver himself, revealing their fullness.  He shows that he is that Lawgiver in doing this, for only the One who made the law can change or replace it.  He “changes” the law the way a caterpillar changes into a butterfly, bringing it to its fullness of beauty.  He does this very solemnly too, as befits a Lawgiver: “You have heard it said, but I say to you.”  No Patriarch, Prophet, or Pharisee ever spoke like this.  Nor does he rely on the Scriptures for proof or support.  “I say to you”, he says, not, The Scriptures say to you.  His words are majestic, stunning, and ring out with divine authority.

“Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  The Lord speaks crisply, even bluntly.  He does not waste words.  We might wonder, as perhaps some of his listeners did long ago, what is the harm in merely lusting?  Who is harmed by it?  Is it not a natural, even a healthy, act?  In order to understand this, we must recall the purpose of the law, which is to promote God’s glory, to point people to the service of this glory, and to render humans capable of entering and living in this glory.  We must then, in our hearts as well as in our actions, treat one another with the respect due to a creature, and especially a child, of God.  We must respect ourselves as well, in heart as well as in deed, and not stain ourselves with unworthy thoughts.  Inside and out, we belong to God.  St. Paul likens is to temples: “Know you not that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? But if any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are” (1 Corinthians 3, 16-17).  And, because lust takes such a strong hold on a person, it greatly interferes with the service of God.  It turns a temple into a slaughterhouse.

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.”  In the old law, it was written, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”.  That is, if one person attacked another and that other lost the use of his eye as a result, the attacker’s eye would be put out.  Here, Jesus fulfills this law by saying that a person who is considering sin would be far better off losing the bodily member with which he would sin.  Jesus uses hyperbole, a common Hebraic device, to make his point.  The wording helps us to understand this, for neither an eye nor a hand “causes” us to sin.  

Since the consequences of lust are so severe and permanent, we ought to consider how to avoid it.  Prayer is necessary, especially to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph.  Certainly, modesty in dress and diligence in our work help.  But we must cultivate an awareness of God’s presence in our hearts, our lives, and our world.  When we can see God with the eyes of our hearts, then we will not know the sting of lust in our bodies.