Friday of the 10th week in ordinary time

2 Cor. 4: 7-15      Mathew 5: 27-32

Theme: High morality

Today the church celebrates the memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, a priest and doctor of the church. His resolve to serve God at the young age of fifteen, made him give up his nobility and embrace the ways of God. This desire to serve God in a very intimate way, gave rise to his movement from one place to another. His love for God reflected in his words and actions. In the same way, as we celebrate his memorial today, we are all encouraged to emulate him in our service to God and humanity. Remember, what drives him, is his love for God and humanity, not personal interests or gains as seen today in our world. Emulating St. Anthony will put us on the right path that will help us to embrace the high morality that Jesus is presenting to his followers in the gospel reading of today.

In the gospel reading of today, Jesus admonishes us to be mindful of our thoughts, because good and evil begins from what we think and have in our mind. So, it begins from the inside and not the outside, as many of us think. Jesus is simply saying that we should stay away from anything that will lead us to sin or evil. Whether it is our passion or an individual, we must distance ourselves, lest we end up committing sin and offending God. We all know what is good and right, so the choice is yours. God has given us a free will to make our own choice and decisions, so it is left for us to decide whether we want to obey God or do the opposite and take responsibility for the choice we have made. The assertion of Jesus is simply inviting us to a higher morality than what other people will ordinarily embrace. So, you don’t have to do it before it becomes a sin, like we ordinarily think. The fact that your thoughts about it, is already a sin. We must be mindful of this fact in our daily life and in our human relationships.

St. Anthony of Padua whom we are celebrating today, is one of the saints in the church that made honest and sincere effort to embrace this high morality that Jesus is presenting to us as his followers in the gospel reading of today. This simply means that we can practice it in our personal lives, if we make honest and sincere effort. May the Lord bless his words in our lives, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, Amen. Peace be with you.