Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5, 20-26
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.
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.”
Your life should be fair
1) Your justice. You and I must have a different concept of justice from the one the scribes had. That is to say, we should not act from rage or anger. When there is something that hurts you and bothers you, if you act there and then, it is very possible that you will believe you are being fair. But, when you act guided by passions and feelings, but intelligence is left to one side, it’s very possible you will regret it later on or realize you went too far. Learn to act calmly and you will be fair if you use reason and logic.
When you get really angry, if I give you a sword, you’re surely going to kill the person who harmed you. But it’s also possible you may hurt the person closest to you and you will justify your actions. However, when you calm down, you will realize the terrible thing you’ve done, the trail of wounded people you’ve left. Well, instead of doing that with a sword, it’s your tongue that may destroy or hurt people.
2) Patience. Calm down. Let time take its course. Faced with a situation that brings out the worse in you, the first thing you have to do is calm down. Don’t act on the spur of the moment, learn to look at the whole picture. Of course, you have to do justice, but being objective and truthful. All extremes are bad, don’t act instantly to destroy, nor two years later when the guilty parties are no longer there. Learn to know how to discover the appropriate moment to act and say the right things.
3) Reconcile. It’s a difficult subject. Being irritable can even make you ill. What the Gospel proposes is a different attitude in life. Don’t let anyone kill your dreams or turn you into what you are not, much less bring out the worst in you. Look for reconciliation, restart a relationship and don’t make a battalion of enemies in a short time. Take advantage of this Lenten season and learn to have more dialogue, to be more diplomatic, looking for a solution to things and maintaining a spirit of dialogue. Of course, if nothing is achieved and the situation is a toxic relationship or a vicious circle full of quarrels and wounds, then it’s best to pray and take the necessary distance. Remember that life is short and it’s no use wasting time and energy on continuous quarrels. If you do, one day you will understand that it would have been better to move on. Take care of your prayer, take care of your life, and take care of your relationship with those people who do you good and help you find God.
Remember that something good is on the way! God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
