This Sunday’s Gospel begins with a clear statement from Jesus: He has not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. And then He does something that can feel bracing: He moves the conversation from outward compliance to inward conversion—into anger, contempt, reconciliation, lust, fidelity, and honesty. The call is not merely “avoid the worst,” but “let God remake the heart so the whole life becomes truthful and loving.”
“You have heard it said… but I say to you…”
Jesus names the commandment against killing and then goes deeper: anger that hardens, words that wound, and contempt that treats someone as less than human. He speaks about fidelity and purity, and again He goes deeper than behavior alone—toward the inner life that slowly forms what we become. And when He reaches truthfulness, He gives one of the simplest, most demanding lines of all: “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’” Christ is forming disciples whose lives don’t require spin, whose speech doesn’t manipulate, and whose relationships don’t survive on avoidance.
A pastoral reality: reconciliation is worship
One of the most striking instructions Jesus gives is this: if you come to the altar and remember a rupture with your brother or sister, go first and seek reconciliation, then return. He is not lowering the value of worship—He is protecting it from becoming a substitute for love. This matters for parish life because it means our faith is meant to show up in the way we repair, the way we apologize, and the way we refuse to let resentment become our identity. Reconciliation is not always quick, and it isn’t always safe to restore closeness immediately after harm. But the Gospel still calls us to begin where we can: prayer for the one we resist, refusal to rehearse contempt, and a first step toward peace when it is possible and prudent.
A current events examination of conscience
This Gospel is painfully relevant in a moment when outrage is rewarded, contempt spreads quickly online, and people are reduced to labels. Jesus’ teaching invites a sober question: what is forming my heart each day—news cycles, arguments, sarcasm, and doom-scrolling, or prayer, Scripture, and a deliberate practice of charity? If Christ is right that anger and contempt already distort the soul, then our discipleship must include how we speak about others, how we interpret motives, and how we treat people we disagree with—especially in public spaces where cruelty is normalized.
One simple practice for this week
Choose one concrete act of conversion that matches this Gospel’s direction—not someday, but this week:
- Reach out to one person where there is tension (even with a small message: “Can we talk?”).
- Make one honest apology without defending yourself.
- Fast from contempt: no insults, no “dunking,” no degrading humor.
- Practice clean truth: say what you mean, mean what you say, and let your yes be yes.
None of this is about moral perfection. It’s about letting Jesus do what He says He came to do: fulfill the Law by filling it with love, and make our lives coherent with the Kingdom.
Pax et Bonum,
Bishop Greer
