Lesson from Fr. Paulus | Christ Looks to the Heart

Each of the lessons taught in today's Gospel passage could be expanded into an entire book. The core of them all, however, is in the heart.

Certainly, our exterior behavior must follow God's will. This is what Jesus means when he says, "Do not think I have come to abolish the law…"

But Jesus is trying to tell us that exterior behavior, that appearances, are not enough. For a true, faithful citizen of Christ's Kingdom, the attitudes and desires of the heart must also be in harmony with God's plan for our lives.

This is what Jesus means when he says: "I have come… to fulfill…" - to bring the Old Testament Law to its fulfillment.

Friendship with God (which is what Jesus offers) requires a union of hearts.

Christ is explaining the Law from this perspective when he explains the true meaning of sinful anger, lust, and lying.

If God "wills all men to be saved" (1Timothy 2:4), how can our friendship with him be complete when we harbor resentment or contempt towards some people, or tarnish their good name by spreading rumors about them or speaking ill of them?

How can I live in intimacy with a God who loves every man and woman as a father loves his children, when in my heart I desire to use some of them only as an object of pleasure and self-indulgence?

How can we be a true friend of God, when we make promises that we don't intend to keep?

Other people may be satisfied with merely exterior success, with a hefty "bottom line"; Christ, however, is interested in every line: he looks all the way in to our hearts.