Difficult moments
Sir 15:15-20; Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34; 1 Cor 2:6-10; Mt 5:17-37
Do you look at the readings for Mass ahead of time as a way of preparing for the liturgy? Many people do. If not, I invite you to try it. It can be a wonderful way to help open your heart more to the transforming power of God’s living word. The readings for every Mass can be easily accessed from the “Daily Readings” tab on the front page of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops site, usccb.org.
If you begin this practice, take a moment to compare the readings for Mass with the same passage in your Bible. What we read from at Mass is not actually the Bible (although the words are taken directly from the Bible).
We read at Mass from the lectionary, a carefully curated set of readings designed to convey a particular message.
You will notice that the passages we read at Mass are not always continuous verses. For example, when you listen to the second reading this Sunday, you will hear from Chapter 2 of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, verses 6 though 10. But when you attend Mass later this week on Ash Wednesday, you will hear from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 1 through 6 and 16 through 18.
You will not hear verses 7 through 15. Why not? For some reason, the lectionary committee that compiled these readings felt that they were either extraneous to the central message of the passage, or perhaps that they contained language which could be easily misconstrued if taken out of context.
Sometimes the lectionary presents two options for a passage. One is labeled the “shorter” form. Presumably, this allows for a more concise reading that better suits the time constraints of the congregation.
Such an option is offered for this Sunday’s Gospel. You will hear one of two options from Chapter 5 of Matthew’s Gospel: either verses 17 through 37, or verses 20 through 22, 27 through 28, 33 through 34 and 37. That’s quite a difference.
Here are two verses omitted from the longer form: “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” (Mt 5:31-32).
With our understanding of the sacrament of marriage today, which did not exist in Jesus’ era, it is not the case that if a man divorces his wife he necessarily causes her to commit adultery. Without such context, these lines could be easily misunderstood.
However, if properly understood, they do convey an important message about the sanctity and permanence of a valid sacramental marriage. We ought to be very cautious about potentially throwing out the “biblical baby” with the bathwater.
In a printed text, omitted words are indicated by an ellipsis. Unfortunately, there are no ellipses in real life. For example, wouldn’t it be great if we could simply avoid that difficult conversation we need to have with a family member during our visit with them at lunch? We could live from morning until noon, then omit two hours, and pick up our life again at 2 p.m.
Alas, we either have to engage the challenging moments of our lives or else avoid them, but we cannot make them disappear.
The entire focus of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, which we have been reading for the past several Sundays, is summarized today. Jesus comes not to abolish what we have known and experienced, but to fulfill it.
I think this means that the love and grace of God has the power to transform even the difficult moments of our lives — the pain, the betrayals, the sinful choices, etc. — into opportunities for finding hope and conversion.
That is much easier said than done, to be sure, but it is possible. What is not possible is to magically expunge those moments, like an inconvenient biblical verse.
There are undoubtedly times in our lives when we would gladly hit the delete button, and just move on. Real life will not allow it. Real love can help us through it.
Kartje is rector and president of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.