Saturday – 10th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Matthew 5: 33-37

Yes or No!

St. Peter in Gallicantu (Cock Crowing) Church, Jerusalem

Especially when we were little, we all had that experience of getting caught with our hands in the cookie jar or chocolate all over our face.  The broken vase is on the floor, and we are standing right there.  The wall is covered with child-like drawings, and the crayon is in our hand.  Caught red-handed!  And yet, when mom or dad asked, “did you do this”, we quickly answered “Nope, not me!”  Denial!  Complete and utter denial!  Nope, nope!  It must have been the wind (even though the windows are closed)!

Why is it so hard to admit our sins?  Why is it so easy to be dishonest?  Even when the evidence is plain as day, we refuse to admit to our mistakes.  Jesus keeps it simple and direct in today’s Gospel: let your yes mean yes and your no mean no.  Be honest!  Be honest with yourself and be honest with others!  Consider all the time and effort it takes to lie – the elaborate stories we weave, the memorizing of the story to keep all the “facts” straight.  Remember all the stories we concocted for getting home late and how proud we were of convincing our parents of the truthfulness of our story.  What an effort, and all to avoid the truth, all to avoid responsibility.

Too often we are great story-tellers.  Jesus challenges us today to be great truth-tellers!

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