Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“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. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”

If we are true to our faith, then we should have no need to make oaths. The need to make an oath presupposes a person will lie if they don’t swear by something they hold dear. However, if we live like Christ, then we should have no predisposition to lie and will speak the truth at every opportunity. Our “Yes” means “Yes” and our “No” means “No.” If we lie, then we sin against God (and whomever we lied to) and disfigure the Divine Image within us. The only way to put things right is to confess our transgression with contrite hearts, try our best to put right our relationship with God and those we lied to, and tell the truth in all things. The truth should be one of the pillars of our faith lives, just as we should imitate Christ’s Life and follow His Way, so should we speak His Truth. If we do these things, then we shall be known as trustworthy by God and others and have nothing to fear when the final judgment comes.

Does our “Yes” mean “Yes” and our “No” mean “No?” If not, then what can we do to make amends for our falsehoods? What can we do to avoid the temptation to lie and make false oaths?

O Lord, inspire us so that every word we speak is the truth.

Amen.

Tenth Saturday of Ordinary Time

Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the Evil One.

We all say things we wish we could take back. We all have made promises we’ve broken. We’ve all said we’d do something and then failed to do it. We’ve even told people we can’t do something, and then went ahead and did it anyway. This is because we speak before we think things through. We should always try to take a step back and weigh our options. We should ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” Deep down we probably know what the right thing is, but sometimes we can convince ourselves that we know better than God. This is why Jesus warns us against swearing oaths. Because sometimes we will agree to do something and then discover that it’s not the right thing to do. But because we have sworn to do it, we do it disregarding our conscience. Jesus isn’t telling us not to change our minds, but rather to think about what we promise to do so that we don’t have to change our minds. It isn’t bad to do the right thing, in spite of your promises, but it is far better thing to promise to do what’s right from the beginning.

When have we said yes to the right thing, and then failed to follow through? When have we said no, and then realized that saying yes was the right thing? Do we speak before we think and pray about our situations?

O Lord, let our “yes” mean “yes” and our “no” mean “no.”

Amen.