Saturday 14^th June – Saturday of week 10 of the year

Reflection: Matthew 5:33-37

DO NOT SWEAR!

Many people today have lost trust in themselves so much that they do not expect others to believe them except they swear either by God’s name, or that of their parents or any other thing. An injunction is given to us today by Christ not to swear at all irrespective of whether people believe us or not.

Swearing reduces us to the level of an unbeliever. When we say the truth always, we have full confidence in whatever we say and those who know us are likely to believe us as they have learnt to trust in our sincerity. It is only when we have made it a habit to tell lies that we will find ourselves having to swear in order to validate our words.

Christ tells us today: “let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ be ‘no’. There is therefore no middle way about truthfulness because any addition or subtraction from truth leads to falsehood and stems from the devil.

Prayer: Dear lord, I pray for the grace to speak the truth always even in difficult situations. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 452 – What does the Eighth Commandment require of us?

The Eighth Commandment teaches us not to lie. Lying means consciously and intentionally speaking or acting against the truth. Someone who lies deceives himself and misleads others who have a right to know the full truth of a matter.

Every lie is an offense against justice and charity. Lying is a form of violence; it introduces the seed of division into a community and undermines the trust on which every human community is based.

HIDE A TREASURE: “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one” Matthew 5:37 RSV-CE

Readings for today: 1 Kings 19: 19-21; Psalm 15: 1-2, 5-10; Matthew 5: 33-37