THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

13 July 2025

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends in Christ,

We are one among many of God's creatures. We hold a middle place in God's plan. We have intelligence like angels, and we have bodies like animals. Philosophers suggest the term "rational animals." We must always be mindful of striking a balance between these two aspects of our nature. It is wrong to focus our attention solely on the physical aspects of our nature, and it is equally wrong to focus our attention solely on the spiritual aspects of our nature. Virtue is in the middle.

In today's Gospel reading (Saint Matthew 5:20-4), Jesus reminds us that our justice must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees if we wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The problem with the justice of the Scribes and Pharisees was that it was focused only on the material aspect of the Law, or the "Letter of the Law." Physical compliance with the Law is not enough. We are more than physical beings. We must love God with our whole being, not just the physical part.

We also have a spiritual and intellectual side to our being that must be brought into our obedience to the Law of God. Physical compliance without spiritual or intellectual compliance is hypocrisy, deceit, or lying. Our obedience is not to be servile but rather filial. We are not servants or slaves that God has created to do His bidding. We are His children created to know, love, and serve Him. Our obedience needs to enter the grace and virtue of love.

It is not enough to physically comply with the Law of Love, nor is it enough to conform our words/speech to the Law of Love. Nor is it enough to pretend that we spiritually love God but show no indication of our love in our words or actions. We must do more than animals in serving God, because we have intelligence that they do not have. We must do more than angels in serving God, because we have bodies that they do not have.

Our goal is to bring these two aspects of our nature into a complete whole in knowing, loving, and serving God. If we truly love God in our hearts and minds, then we naturally bring forth expressions of this love in our words and deeds. "Faith without works is dead." And we may add that works without faith or love are shallow or empty. Love is the essence of our actions; it is what gives them meaning and purpose.

In the example Jesus gives us in today's Gospel reading, we see that the Scribes and Pharisees obeyed the letter of the Law in refraining from physically killing others. Still, they thought it was okay for them to inwardly hate their neighbors or even to harm them physically or mentally/ emotionally, as long as they did not physically kill them. They thought that as long as they did not have their enemy's physical blood on their hands, they were in full compliance with the Law of God.

As long as the "Jews" did not physically nail Jesus to the cross, they thought themselves innocent of killing Him. Pontius Pilate did not allow them to get away with this. Jesus was not put to death until the masses who were led on by their leaders loudly and boldly proclaimed that "His Blood be upon us and our children." Though Jesus' physical Blood did not stain their hands, spiritually/intellectually, their hands were covered in bloody guilt.

In our modern world, we see that the tools of hatred and every other evil have advanced. Modern electronics enable us to communicate with anyone, almost anywhere in the world. It also allows us to hide behind these tools anonymously. Physically bullying or injuring our neighbors advanced to verbally bullying and injuring them. And now, we can use the new tools to intellectually/spiritually injure one another through cyberbullying, and we can even attempt to do this anonymously, hiding behind the electronics. God forbids such hatred for our fellow humans in all its aspects. We must not hate and harm physically, verbally, spiritually/ intellectually. We must not use any means to hurt others, fists, stones, knives, guns, bombs, words of libel or slander, or do any of these things in the "cyber" world. What seems harmless or indifferent on electronic screens is often quite destructive in the real world when experienced on the receiving end.

What we are commanded to do is to love God with our whole being (heart, mind, and soul) and then to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (again, physically, spiritually, verbally, and intellectually). This love of our neighbor needs to extend to everyone in the world. We are all children of God. There is no anonymity with God. He sees everything. There is nothing harmless in harboring evil in our hearts. This destroys us from within, even if it never physically enters the world. There is nothing harmless in speaking evil of others; insulting and abusive words, whether libel or slander, all have their repercussions in the eternal realms of Heaven and Hell.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!