More than rules

Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A

Today’s Gospel continues from where we left off last week, it is a continuation of the Sermon of the Mount.

The Jews knew very well what was written in the Law and Prophets (Scripture). Jesus assures them that he was not going against what was written. What was written was the truth, however it was not all. Jesus wanted to go beyond what was written. Jesus wanted to ‘fulfil’ what was written. He wanted to make the world more humane, a place where love, peace and friendship reigned. Jesus wanted to show us how to obey God’s will to the full.

This is why, Jesus said that it was not enough, not to kill someone, we are called to do more than that. When we insult others, when we name call them, when we invent things about them, when we vindicate ourselves for wrong done to us, when we use words to shed suspect on others, we will be going against the commandment, ‘do not kill.’ We live in a world, where tolerance is lacking, just reading through the comments on social media is a clear indication of this. Although we do not physically kill anyone, we kill their moral, their spirit. These words are a good basis for hatred to start taking form in our hearts, our hearts harden and we can no longer live as brethren together. The commandment ‘do not kill’ includes all that which goes against the dignity of the person.

When describing adultery, Jesus also included someone’s thoughts of committing the act. Why does he do this? We know that sin is when the action is carried out. However, like any other sin, the thought of doing wrong, first starts in our minds and in our hearts, the sin is then committed after it has been shaped in our minds. 

Loyalty to God and to our neighbour, starts from our hearts, from our interior disposition. Today, Jesus is asking us to put into action, what we know that God is asking from us. In the end, as we read later in Matthew’s Gospel (25, 31-46) we will be judged on the choices and deeds we made.

A reading from the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 5, 17-37) 

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

“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. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

“It was also said, whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife – unless the marriage is unlawful – causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”

The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

  1. Read the Gospel story so that you are familiar with it.
  2. Reflect on what the Gospel story is saying to you. Which points would you highlight and why?
  3. We face choices daily. Even children must make choices every day. As a parent, how are you helping your children to make the right choices?
  4. Think about the words you use, your behaviour towards others, even with your own family. Do your words and actions correspond with what Jesus said in the Gospel today? If not, how will you change? Are you doing your best to live according to the calling Jesus is making you?
  5. Together with your family find the right time to read this Gospel. The environment helps, so before you start, prepare;
    i. The Bible reading from St Matthew (5, 17-37)
    ii. Cover the table with a green cloth
    iii. A computer/laptop with the readings and clips
  6. Go through the steps with your children (2 age groups are being suggested).
  7. Feel free to adapt to your situation
  8. Be creative 😊 
  9. Go to the Prayer Corner section to continue praying as a family. 

Once, Jesus was teaching his friends, and the people who had gone to listen to him, about how to live a good life. Let us listen to what he said.

  • God gave us rules to live the best way possible
  • Printout of the hearts
  • Colours
  • Scissors
  • Glitter and decorations
  • Transparent contact paper
  • Black dry wipe marker
  • Cloth to wipe off the marker
Printout of the heartsDownload

Note to parents: before starting, cut out a heart (preferably on red construction paper), cover it from one side with the contact paper and cut off the extra.

Today Jesus told us that if when we are taking up our offering we remember that we are not friends with someone, first we go and make up, than we go with our offering. You know that during mass, we give an offering of money. Jesus is not telling us to go out of church, and go and make up, and return to church. He is telling us that when we go to church, the house of God, God is more concerned in what is in our hearts, than the amount of money we are offering. God wants us to be friends with everyone when we go to his house. 

Look at what happens when we are not friends, or when we make a bad choice. This is your heart; it is clean and lovely (show them the heart covered with the contact paper). When you are angry at someone, your heart does not remain as beautiful (make a dot on the heart with the marker). Our hearts do not remain clean when we do not obey, when we cheat during games, when we lie, when we are in a bad temper (mark the heart each time). Can you see, that with every bad choice, our heart becomes blacker and uglier?

What can we do? Jesus asked us to say that we are sorry. Soon, some of you will be having their First Reconciliation. The sacrament of confession is a gift, Jesus gave us, to be able to show that we are sorry. Look at what happens after confession, to the wrong choices that you made (wipe the marker off). Do not worry, if you are still too young to go to confession, your heart will not remain black and dirty. You too can go in front of Jesus and say that you are ‘sorry’ and if you have hurt or not obeyed someone, then you can say that you are ‘sorry’ to that person too. Then when you grow up, you too will start going to confession. Were you ever punished for doing something wrong? Jesus wants us to make good choices, not to avoid punishment, but to show others that we love them. For example, if you fight with your brother, you might get a punishment. However, if you do not fight with your brother, not only will you not be punished, but you will also be showing your brother that you love him!

In today’s Gospel, Jesus lists several things that we should not do. You realise that when we do something which is wrong, we are not happy. Jesus does not want us to be sad. That is why he gave us these rules. When we obey Jesus, and do what he wants us to do, we will be happy. Jesus knows that this is not always easy. In fact, he has told us many times, to go to him, and ask for his help.

You have some hearts, for today’s activity. Cut them out, colour and decorate them. During this week, when you do something wrong, like for example you do not obey, or you lie, take one of the hearts, and if you have not obeyed daddy, give him the heart and tell him that you are sorry.
Jesus wants us to be friends, that we live in peace, so let us sing, Peace like a river.

Sign of the Cross.

Dear Jesus, we are sorry for when we make bad choices. Teach us to be more like you. Help us to obey God’s rules, so that we are happy. Amen.

Today’s Gospel continues from where we left off last Sunday. We are going to listen to Jesus teaching us on how we are to live.

  • God gave us rules, so that we become better persons
  • Printout of the activity
  • Colours
  • Pencil 
Printout of the activityDownload

What rules must you obey at home?

What rules must you obey at school?

Everyone needs rules, even grown-up people. Imagine, mummy or daddy are driving, and all the road signs have been removed! Can you imagine the amount of accidents that will happen, what chaos there will be on the roads! No one will know when to stop to allow the others to pass, there will be no directions, there will be no sign of one-way roads!

It is not always easy to obey rules, and there are times when we act up, and obey them literally and stop there. For example, mummy has asked you to wipe the plates, and you obey, you wipe the plates, but not the glasses, forks and knives! Or else, daddy asks you to stop watching the television, because you have had enough screen time for the day, you turn off the television and you switch on your tablet! You are told not to go out in the street to play because you are not feeling well, and you go out on the roof instead!

Jesus wants to teach us, that rules are good, however we cannot just obey them literally. For example, we have the commandment ‘do not kill.’ Surely you do not know anyone who has killed someone. However you know people who gossip on others, who lie about others, who make fun of people. How do you think these people feel? It could very well be, that this has also happened to you. How did you feel when you were called names, or someone lied about you? They would not have killed you, but you will be very upset, and maybe even started believing what they said, you may have felt that you are not as good as your friends. Therefore, the commandment, ‘do not kill,’ includes these actions and words which we do and say and through them, we hurt others.

During mass we give an offering of money. Jesus said that what is in our hearts, is more important than the money we offer. We can give a lot of money, however if we have hatred in our hearts, if we are selfish, if we are jealous, God will not be pleased with the money we offer. Jesus told us, if we are making an offering and remember that we are not friends with someone, we must first go and make up, then we go and give our offering. Jesus said all this, to show how important it is to him, that we are friends with everyone.

God gave us rules to live by, we call these the commandments. Some weeks ago, we listened to Jesus giving us other rules, we call these the beatitudes. When we choose to obey these rules, we become better persons, because we will love others more, and we will also love ourselves better. It is not always easy to make right choices; at these times we should ask the Holy Spirit to help us. 

In today’s psalm, we repeated, “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!” In today’s activity, you have a picture with these words. You also have a path of stones. On the stones (those which are big enough) write what you will do to obey God. You may colour it if you wish.

Last week’s Gospel ended with Jesus telling us that we are to be the light of the world. Today he tells us how we can be light to others: obeying his rules, so that others will see the way that we are living, and they will do the same. Let us sing, This little light of mine.

Sign of the cross

Let us say the St Francis prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Gospel in SymbolsDownload

How to use this space

God speaks to us in many ways, including through the Sunday Scripture readings. Here you will find useful background and activities to better understand the upcoming Sunday's Scripture readings, helping you to connect the Scripture to daily life in a meaningful way.