Fr. Alfonse Nazzaro Blog Mt 5:27-32 Let's Show A Little Commandment

Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Click here for readings)

Jesus said to his disciples:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna….”

Is man (man and woman) rotten?  Is he good?  The answer is:  he is both.  He is capable of great good and great evil, for he has it in him to do both.  This is the state we’re in.  This is the state of fallen man. 

He is good, but broken. 

Christ understood this.  He knew this all too well.  For this reason His message resonated well with the vast majority of people who listened to him.  Of course there were some who heard him but did not listen to him.  They couldn’t.  They were too full of themselves.  But for the meek and humble of heart, the Lord’s message struck a chord with them.  They could relate to Him.  And just like disciples, they got to know the Lord the best way possible:  they got to know Him by heart.    

Jesus was a very balanced individual, and He knew how to help others become balanced as well.  To sinners, He was kind and compassionate.  He understood the importance of forgiveness and mercy, and He helped them regain their lost humanity (to stand up once again) and the dignity they thought they never had.  In other words, He helped them to stand up and to stand tall. 

However to the righteous, His words were cutting.  He chopped them down.  He took them off their pedestal, just like He had taken himself down from His pedestal.  He tried to help them regain a sense of reality.  Did He succeed?  Yes, in some cases.  But pride is a very hard thing to trim.  One must accept the help that is offered.   

Throughout His entire ministry, the Lord struck a beautiful balance between Compassion and The Commandments.  We need to do the same.  We need compassion.  We need Commandments.  We need friends.  We need food.  Man cannot live on bread alone, remember?

Life cannot just be lived.  We can eat whatever we want, but it won’t be a long life.  We can have all the sex we want, but it won’t be a fulfilling life. 

Life must be lived the right way.  It must be lived correctly and compassionately. 

I could care less what the road to heaven is paved with.  I personally do not believe that it is paved with gold.  In my opinion, it is paved with sinkholes and with potholes that need to be avoided at all cost.  What I am most interested in is the lighting along the road. 

The Commandments are like light posts along the road to heaven. 

When we stray from them, we get lost in the thickness of darkness.  Christ did not neglect The Commandments or ignore them for the sake of compassion and mercy.  How silly!  Compassion and mercy dictate that we teach The Commandments to our children:  “Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter of the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” 

No, what the Lord actually did was expand The Commandments:  “You have heard that it was said…But I say to you…”

Let us follow the light:  Christ and His Commandments.  Let’s teach the world some compassion by teaching the Lord’s Commandments.

Click here to see what happens when compassion is not followed up by Commandments.