6th Sunday Ordinary Time Rdgs & Reflection - Sun, Feb 13

February 13, 2011 ~ Liturgical Year A, Cycle I ~ Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time


First Reading: Sirach 15:15-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:6-10
Gospel: Matthew 5:17-37


Gospel Reflection


One of the most difficult decisions a person faces in life is to become vulnerable to another, to the point of revealing their deepest selves to another. In this Gospel, Jesus reaches out to us and invites us to become open to Him. Reading this entire passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel brings us into the meat and potatoes of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, arguably His greatest teaching ever. To place it in context, we have to put on the ears of the first century Jews who would have heard this message, Jews who were well versed with the Law of Moses and who followed it with everything they had. Jesus acknowledges the goodness of the Law, but then says ‘hang on, folks’, and takes us deeper. Notice the pattern Jesus uses in this Gospel: It isn’t just enough to fulfill the Gospel, rather, Jesus wants us to have a change of heart. He wants to root out anything in us that gets in the way of loving totally. When we pause to think of what we want out of life, in the end all of us want to be happy, all of us want to love and to be loved. We can have the worst job in the world, we can fail in school, we can be sick and suffering, but if we have love, we have life. In this passage, Jesus gives us the key to love. Love must come from the depths of who we are, and to be true love, it must be formed and guided by Jesus Himself. Perhaps, even unknowingly, we have allowed a wound or a sin to keep Jesus out of our hearts. Today Jesus asks to be invited into every thought, action and experience of our lives. He asks us today not only to trust Him, but to really place Him above all that we desire in life. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to learn how to love, no matter the cost, and to allow His love to transform us into the person He intends us to be.


Reflection Questions


1. How does Jesus reference the Law of Moses in this passage? What does He add to that Law?


2. How do you think those who heard Jesus’ teaching reacted, given that they would have been well versed in the Law of Moses?


3. What makes it difficult for people to let Jesus in to the center of their hearts? Describe. What would you say to a person who has closed his/her heart to the love of God?