1st Reading – Sirach 15:15-20
If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you;
if you trust in God, you too shall live;
he has set before you fire and water
to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.
Before man are life and death, good and evil,
whichever he chooses shall be given him.
Immense is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is mighty in power, and all-seeing.
The eyes of God are on those who fear him;
he understands man’s every deed.
No one does he command to act unjustly,
to none does he give license to sin.
The Book of Sirach is Wisdom literature composed during the first part of the 2nd century BC. It gathers practical instruction, moral reflection, and theological insight aimed at forming a people who live in reverent obedience to God.
Today’s reading is a collection of proverbial teachings on free will and responsibility, in which Sirach urges his fellow Jews to obey the commandments.
If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; he has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.
The Wisdom tradition assumes a moral order woven into creation. Humanity is free to live in harmony with this order (the path of wisdom) or reject it (the path of folly).
Sirach emphasizes that each person possesses radical moral agency, echoing Deuteronomy’s call to choose “life” rather than “death” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). His stark contrasts (life/death, fire/water, good/evil) demonstrate the full scope of human choice.
No matter how we use or abuse it, God never revokes this freedom; the decision remains ours.
Immense is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing.
Sirach grounds his argument in reason, which is typical of Wisdom literature. God is the source of the commandments, and God’s wisdom is far greater than our own.
When confronted with misfortune and human suffering, we often challenge these tenets, wondering how a wise and loving God could allow adversity. But a world without adversity, in which everything goes according to God’s will, leaves no room for authentic human choice.
The eyes of God are on those who fear him;
“Fear of the Lord” is an expression found throughout the Wisdom tradition. It names the reverent posture creatures should have before their Creator.
It is not terror but faithful awe, the disposition of those who seek to live in covenant fidelity.
he understands man’s every deed.
God sees and knows the choices each person makes; nothing is hidden from divine judgment.
No one does he command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin.
God never wills evil for anyone. Though temptation can be formidable, the human person is never deprived of the capacity to choose the good.
Living faithfully is never impossible.
2nd Reading – 1 Corinthians 2:6-10
Brothers and sisters:
We speak a wisdom to those who are mature,
not a wisdom of this age,
nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.
Rather, we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden,
which God predetermined before the ages for our glory,
and which none of the rulers of this age knew;
for, if they had known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written:
“What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard,
and what has not entered the human heart,
what God has prepared for those who love him,”
this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
In last week’s reading, Saint Paul reminded us that he came to Corinth in weakness, proclaiming not human eloquence but Christ crucified, so that faith might rest on God’s power rather than human wisdom. Today, we hear more about the true wisdom of God.
It’s helpful to recognize that Paul develops his teaching on wisdom within a Jewish apocalyptic perspective. In this worldview, God’s saving plan was ordained from the beginning of time but hidden from human understanding, to be revealed when the fullness of time had come (apokalyptō). History was thus understood as divided into “this age,” marked by waiting and limitation, and “the age to come,” when God’s purposes would be fully disclosed. This framework is reflected in Paul’s references to a hidden wisdom, predetermined before the ages, and to the rulers of this age, who failed to perceive God’s plan now being revealed in Christ through the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters: We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.
The “mature” are those who have entered into the dying and rising of Christ through faith and baptism, accepting the wisdom of the Gospel. This maturity does not imply elitism but participation in the Paschal Mystery.
Everything hinges on the mystery that has been revealed: the death and resurrection of Christ, which overturns the standards of worldly wisdom.
“The mature are those who preach the cross as wisdom because of the witness of Christ’s power at work. They know that actions speak louder than words. Their wisdom is not of this age but of the age to come, when the truth of God will be manifested to those who now deny it.” [The Ambrosiaster (366-384 AD), Commentaries on Thirteen Pauline Epistles]
Rather, we speak God’s wisdom,
Paul has already insisted several times in this letter to the Corinthians that Christ crucified is both the content and the measure of true wisdom, the power of God that saves (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 2:1-5).
mysterious, hidden,
Christ, the Wisdom of God, can be known only by revelation. God’s wisdom is hidden beneath the apparent folly and scandal of the cross.
which God predetermined before the ages for our glory,
God’s saving plan is not a reaction to human sin but flows from his eternal love, ordered toward our participation in divine glory.
“Paul is keen to point out that God always loved us, even from the very beginning, when we did not yet exist. For if he had not loved us, he would not have foreordained our riches. Look beyond the broken relationship which has come in between, and you will see that God’s love for us is more ancient still.” [Saint John Chrysostom (392 AD), Homilies on the First Epistle to the Corinthians 7,5]
and which none of the rulers of this age knew; for, if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
“Lord of glory” echoes titles used for YHWH in Israel’s Scriptures (cf. Ps 24:7-10; Ps 29:3; Ex 24:16-17), where kavod (“glory”) signifies God’s own radiant presence and kingship. By applying this title to Jesus, Paul affirms both his messianic identity and his full participation in the divine identity.
The irony is here stark: the rulers of this age crucified the one who is, in truth, the Lord of glory — the deepest human shame inflicted upon the bearer of the highest divine title.
Had the rulers of this world known that the glory of God resided in the man Jesus, they would not have crucified him. But of course, they should have known; Jesus did not keep his identity a secret.
But as it is written: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,” this God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
Paul quotes a beautiful meditation from the prophet Isaiah on the incomprehensibility of God’s love (Isaiah 64:3), then elaborates on it to affirm the surpassing mystery of God’s plan, now unveiled in Christ.
This revelation is not granted through secret rites or esoteric knowledge, but through the Holy Spirit, who enables believers to know God’s wisdom from within.
Gospel – Matthew 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 fulfill.
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.”
This week, we continue with the Sermon on the Mount, which we began two weeks ago with the Beatitudes. As this great discourse unfolds, Matthew gradually reveals a striking portrait of Jesus as a new Moses: teaching with authority, from a mountain, and bringing the Torah to its fulfillment.
In today’s reading, Jesus turns to the law itself, showing how his mission discloses its deepest meaning and calling his disciples to a righteousness that goes beyond outward observance.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
“The law” and “the prophets” together refer to the whole of Israel’s Scriptures. At the time of Jesus, these writings constituted the entirety of sacred Scripture; obviously the New Testament had not yet been written.
Because Jesus taught with unprecedented authority and freedom, some suspected him of rejecting the Scriptures. He anticipates and corrects this misunderstanding.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
For Jesus’ Jewish audience, the Mosaic Law was God’s self-revelation and a complete guide for life. Jesus does not reject it; rather, he brings it to fulfillment by revealing its deepest intent. He moves beyond legalistic precision to the heart of the commandments: emphasizing mercy over legalistic minutiae, love over restriction, and interior commitment over mere external compliance.
In correcting distorted interpretations, Jesus fulfills the law by giving it the fullness his hearers already believed it possessed.
Amen, I say to you,
“Amen” introduces a solemn declaration of truth. The phrase “I say to you” serves to emphasize the authority with which he speaks.
until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law,
By invoking “heaven and earth,” he places the law within the enduring framework of creation itself: as long as God’s world stands, God’s word remains authoritative.
He sharpens the point with vivid precision, insisting that not iōta hen ē mia keraia — literally, not “one iota or one little horn” — will pass away. The iōta, the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, and the keraia, the tiniest decorative or distinguishing stroke in Hebrew script, together evoke the most minute elements of written language.
Nothing in God’s revelation, not even its smallest mark, is expendable or insignificant.
until all things have taken place.
Jesus frames this radical permanence of the law within a movement toward its fulfillment: the law endures “until all things have taken place.”
The authority of the law is not static or self-contained, but ordered toward completion within God’s saving plan.
In this way, Jesus affirms the full weight of the law while situating it within a divine purpose that is unfolding — not through obsessive attention to letters and words alone, but through the realization of what the law was always meant to accomplish.
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.
Jesus warns his disciples that fidelity to God’s commandments matters profoundly. Teaching or modeling disregard for even the least commandment has serious consequences, while obedience joined to teaching leads to greatness in the kingdom.
I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
In Scripture, righteousness (Hebrew: tsedaqah, Greek: dikaiosynē)
means faithful conformity to God’s will. It’s a relational word as much as a moral one. It describes a life aligned with God’s purposes and a life lived rightly toward others, marked by mercy, fidelity, fairness, and covenant loyalty.
The scribes and the Pharisees were experts on Jewish law and adhered to the law meticulously. Jesus teaches his disciples that their righteousness must exceed that of even the most devout Jews, but not in the way they would expect. Jesus’ teaching fulfills the law by demanding more in the way of love, not external conformity to the law.
You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, “You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.”
Jesus begins a series of contrasts (“You have heard… but I say to you”) showing how he fulfills the law by unveiling its inner demands. In each case, Jesus reminds his audience of what they have already been taught, then radically re-interprets the statement of the law.
Jesus begins by quoting the commandment against murder from Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment;
By speaking in his own name (“but I say to you”), Jesus claims that his authority is above that of Moses and the prophets; that is to say, he has divine authority. He forbids not only murder but the interior dispositions — anger, contempt, and hostility — that lead to it or cause harm to another person.
This must have left his audience thoroughly astounded.
and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin;
Jesus uses the sharp Aramaic insult rāqā’, which means “empty‑headed” or “worthless,” to expose how contempt corrodes the heart. Rāqā’ is not a casual jab but a way of declaring that another person has no value, a dismissal that strikes at the core of their God‑given dignity.
Notice the hyperbolic legal imagery. The highest court in Israel, the Sanhedrin, is summoned over a single word. The point is unmistakable: Contempt may be quiet, socially acceptable, even easy to justify, but in God’s eyes it is a form of violence — a tearing down of the other that wounds community and distorts the speaker’s own soul.
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Gehenna was the Jewish equivalent of hell; that is, eternal punishment.
The Greek moré, translated here as “fool,” is an even stronger term of abuse than rāqā’. It implies moral corruption or rebellion against God, as in the “fool” in Psalm 14 who says in his heart, “There is no God.”
Jesus is tracing a progression: interior anger, verbal insult, and total dehumanization — each with escalating consequences.
Importantly, Jesus is addressing the root of sin, not merely its outward act. Harboring the passion that leads to murder is itself a grave moral failure.
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.
Here Jesus teaches that reconciliation is the first act of authentic worship. Because our relationship with others is inseparable from our relationship with God, addressing a rift takes precedence even over sacred ritual. Healing a fractured relationship is itself a holy offering.
This was a startling claim. Worship was the most sacred act a Jew could perform, yet Jesus insists that peace with one’s neighbor comes first. He recognizes that genuine worship is impossible while hostility or resentment remains unresolved.
And the responsibility is proactive: we are not only to forgive those who have wronged us, but to take the first step toward reconciliation — even when the fault appears to lie with the other person.
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.
Jesus turns to a courtroom metaphor to stress the urgency of reconciliation and to warn that unresolved hostility carries eternal consequences. The escalating chain — opponent, judge, guard, prison, “the last penny” — mirrors the way moral choices harden into spiritual realities.
Persistent hostility, left unaddressed, doesn’t just make life miserable; it shapes the heart in ways that estrange a person from God’s kingdom.
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.
The commandment forbidding adultery is quoted according to Exodus 20:14 and Deuteronomy 5:18.
Jesus again moves from the external act to the interior source. Adultery is not only physical infidelity but any deliberate consent to lust that violates the covenant meaning of marriage.
Feeling an impulse or experiencing an intrusive thought is one thing; consenting to lust is another. Consent involves recognizing the moral weight of one’s thoughts or imaginings and choosing to dwell on them.
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.
Jesus is drawing on a well‑known rhetorical style common in the ancient Near East, where teachers used vivid overstatement to drive a point home. He is not advocating literal self‑mutilation; he is exposing how easily people tolerate habits, desires, or patterns that quietly deform the heart.
Obviously, our eyes and our hands do not cause us to sin — we are more than willing to admit this if the alternative is to cut them off.
Nothing, however precious, should be allowed to drag a person away from God.
It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.”
Jesus alludes to Deuteronomy 24:1 to address divorce. Mosaic Law tolerated divorce due to the hardness of heart of the early Hebrews. The law required a formal certificate to protect a woman from being cast aside impulsively and left without legal standing. But by Jesus’ time, rabbinic interpretations had stretched this concession into a system that overwhelmingly favored men, allowing divorce for reasons ranging from serious misconduct to trivial displeasure. In all cases, the interpretation was for the benefit of males: only husbands could repudiate wives, not vice versa.
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.
Against these rabbinic interpretations, Jesus reaffirms God’s original design for marriage as a permanent, exclusive union (Genesis 1:27, 2:24; see also Matthew 19:4-6, Ephesians 1:31, 1 Corinthians 7:10-11). He teaches that marriage is not merely a legal arrangement but a covenant rooted in creation itself and therefore not subject to human dissolution.
Unlike Mark (10:11-12) and Luke (16:18), Matthew’s gospel includes an exception clause: mē epi porneia (“unless the marriage is unlawful”). In biblical Greek, porneia can denote unlawful or invalid unions, such as marriages within prohibited degrees of kinship (i.e. incest) or relationships not recognized as true marriages under Jewish law. In this reading, Jesus is not permitting divorce of a valid marriage but acknowledging situations in which no true marriage existed to begin with.
Many scholars and early Church fathers understood this clause as referring to unions considered acceptable in some pagan cultures but forbidden by Mosaic law. When converts entered the Christian community, such unions could be recognized as invalid rather than dissolved.
The indissolubility of marriage has been unhesitatingly taught by the Church from the very beginning (see CCC 1614-1615, 1640, 2382).
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.”
Mosaic Law firmly prohibited perjury and the violation of oaths. Jesus is not quoting a single verse here but paraphrasing passages as Exodus 20:7, Leviticus 19:12, Numbers 30:3, and Deuteronomy 23:22.
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.
In Jesus’ time, oath-taking had become excessive and morally evasive. He forbids oaths altogether, not as a legal prohibition, but as a call to radical honesty.
A disciple of Christ should be so truthful that no oath is needed. Truthfulness reflects God himself, who is truth.
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”
Jesus concludes by praising sincerity and condemning hypocrisy. Anything beyond simple truthfulness belongs to the realm of deception, which Scripture associates with Satan, “the father of lies” (John 8:44).
It’s difficult for us to realize how shocking Jesus’ teaching was to his first‑century Jewish audience. He spoke with an authority that reached beyond the familiar interpretations of Scripture, exposing where long‑standing readings had fallen short of God’s true intention.
No one had ever dared do this before.
Connections and Themes
True wisdom. In our first reading, Sirach insists that wisdom is not hidden in mystery or reserved for the elite; it is placed plainly before us in the freedom to choose. God does not trap us in sin or demand the impossible. Life and death, faithfulness and failure, are set within reach, and true wisdom is shown in choosing what leads to life.
In the gospel reading, Jesus shows us what that wisdom looks like when lived. He does not discard the law Sirach praises; he draws it inward, where wisdom must finally take root. Murder begins in anger, adultery in desire, dishonesty in a divided heart. In Jesus’ teaching, wisdom is no longer measured by how closely we avoid breaking rules, but by how fully our hearts are aligned with God’s intention.
Together, Sirach and Jesus tell a single story: true wisdom is not cleverness or strict observance, but a way of living that flows from an undivided heart freely choosing life. Sirach names the path; Jesus walks it before us.
Wisdom revealed. If Sirach names true wisdom and Jesus embodies it, Saint Paul shows us its source. Writing to the Corinthians, he reminds them that the wisdom guiding the Christian life does not arise from human cleverness or moral effort alone, but from God’s own hidden purpose, now unveiled in Christ. What once lay beyond human sight has been revealed to those willing to receive it.
This divine wisdom explains why Jesus’ teaching goes so deep. The call to an undivided heart is not a higher ethical trick or spiritual heroism; it is participation in God’s own way of seeing and acting. Paul insists that such wisdom cannot be grasped by surface reasoning or worldly standards — it is known only because God chooses to share it.
Thankfully, Paul also reassures us that we are not left to discover this path on our own. The same God who sets life before us and reveals its meaning in Christ also gives us the Spirit, so that we may understand, desire, and live the wisdom that leads to glory.
Sunday Readings 