Tenth Saturday of Ordinary Time

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.

It's amazing how much truth can be captured in one sentence. Let your "Yes" mean "Yes," and your "No" mean "No." This saying is something we all should take to heart. It can be so easy to say, "Yes," to something, but then change our minds. We break promises. We forget. We let fears, doubts, and anxieties keep us from following through with our plans. We can be too hasty in saying, both "Yes" and "No." We should put more thought into our decisions and make sure we are making the right choice from the beginning. We shouldn't make decisions lightly or with the knowledge that we are only saying "Yes" or "No" with no plan to follow what we say. This is not to say there aren't times when we should change our minds, especially when new information is discovered. Being too stubborn to change our minds is also a fault. However, changing our minds should be something we take very seriously precisely because we put effort into our initial decision.

Does our "Yes" mean "Yes" and our "No" mean "No?" Do we take time to properly weigh our decisions and responses to others? Do we take our decisions to heart and follow through on them to the best of our abilities?

O Lord, let our "Yes" mean "Yes" and our "No" mean "No."

Amen.