Saturday, June 11, 2016

Matthew 5:33-37

Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.”

What is an oath? An oath is a vow or a promise or in a biblical sense an oath is a covenant. In Jesus day if you swore an oath and failed to make good on the oath the collateral you put up would be forfeit. How little do we pay attention to the oaths we take every day? How many times do we make a promise with no intention of making good on it?

This is a very dangerous road for the Christian and even more so for the Catholic. The word amen is an oath. It is a promise that means whatever was just said you completely agree with or it is the truth to the best of your knowledge. For the Jews there is no way to show good, better, and best. This was often done by repeating a word. Amen, amen I say to you… Holy, holy, holy (three times is as holy as it gets).

Every time we go to Mass we take many oaths. We make many promises. The biggest promise we make at Mass is when we go to receive the Eucharist. What? We are making a promise when we receive communion? That is exactly right. When we go up for communion we are going to give, not receive. Jesus is giving himself totally to us, body, blood, soul, and divinity. We, in turn, make the promise to give our lives to him, to live for him, and to die for him if so required. We enter into a form of indentured servitude. The Greek word used in the scriptures is doulos. Correctly translated it means slave. It is often translated as servant because it is hard for people to think of themselves as a slave.

When we go to receive communion we are swearing an oath to the death that we will be a slave for Christ. Communion for a Catholic means a great deal more than just participating in a symbolic last supper. This is why only Catholics in a state of grace can properly receive communion. This is why it is not open for any and all in attendance. We are swearing an oath and if we fail to make good on that oath it costs us our life. It is the single gravest thing a Catholic can do. Because of the gravity of this action Jesus tells us in scripture that it is better we do not swear these oaths because to do so lightly and to perjure ourselves in the process costs us our very lives. It is far better for a Catholic to not receive communion than to do so without regard or to do so when we are not in a state of grace.

Saint Paul teaches that to receive the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus unjustly is eating unto our very death. But for the righteous man in a state of grace receiving the Eucharist is powerful medicine. We are taking the entire being of Jesus into our entire being and we dwell as one. The Lord lives within me and will guide me if I would only let him.

Lord, be with me this day. Guide my steps, my thoughts, my words, and my actions. Make me an instrument of your will. I am your doulos. Do with me what you will.