Breaking the Word

10^th Week in Ord. Time, Friday – 13^th June 2025 – 2 Cor 4,7-15; Mt 5,27-32

Guard your Eyes

Concerning the purity of heart, Jesus takes this demand for purity a step further than the Old Testament. He teaches that to even look at a woman with lust in your heart, seeing her as merely an object to satisfy your lustful desires, is seriously sinful. Being led by our urges, rather than keeping our desires under control, is a path to destruction. Jesus is making an important point about how dangerous our thoughts and desires can be. He does not say that it is sinful to simply recognize a woman as beautiful, or a woman recognizing a man as handsome. It is when we see the other as an object and have impure thoughts about them that we give into sin. In other words, the temptation itself is not a sin; it is when we accept that temptation into our hearts and give it a home by willfully playing with it in our mind that we step over the line. In that vein, He says that it’s worth losing an eye rather than letting that eye drag someone into sin, and by extension into hell. However, God’s will for His people is that they do not engage in lust.

10^th Week in Ord. Time, Thursday – 12^th June 2025 – 2 Cor 3,15-4,1.3-6; Mt 5,20-26

Insults are Grave Matters

A familiar quote says, “The tongue has no bones but is strong enough to break a heart.” This is a powerful reminder of the impact that our words can have on others. The words penetrate powerfully and with them one may edify or destroy, enhance or tarnish, heal or wound. It is rather striking that Jesus refers to insults towards “a brother or sister;” in other words, insulting those closest to us, especially those closest to our heart. It is no revelation that those we love the most are also the ones most capable of wounding us deeply, and vice versa. A careless comment, a thoughtless joke, or a hurtful criticism can leave deep scars that may never fully heal. The true revelation is that God takes each word we speak seriously. In fact, he will hold us accountable for them because the words are an outward manifestation of what we have in our hearts. The power of words reveals the weight of words. Here Jesus is showing that God cares about actions, but He cares most about the heart.