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Gospel Reading for March 14, 2025 – Matthew 5: 20-26
TOO LATE
Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
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A lot of conflicts are results of misunderstandings, miscommunication, presumptions, assumptions, and so on and so forth. Even between married couples and best friends, anything can just cause a conflict. What is this saying? A lot of conflicts/quarrels could have been avoided if we were just more sensitive, more thoughtful and not rash in our reactions. Because after honestly evaluating what happened, we may discover that we just made mountains out of molehills. It would be ideal if the party that discovered this first would take the initiative to make amends. This way, the conflict/quarrel will not be prolonged and create more complications, where even family and friends are dragged into it. Most of the time, even if we see our contribution to the conflict our pride makes us turn a blind eye. This is an apt description of foolish pride. Imagine, trading our peace and happiness with foolish pride!
The word Jesus always mentions is “forgiveness.” The prayer he taught us says, “Forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” No one can claim not to have been in need of forgiveness at one time or another in life. No one’s perfect. Hence, although according to philosophical perspectives it is not, for us Christians, it is our moral obligation to forgive. When the conflict is severe, it may take time to forgive, but the sooner reconciliation is done, the FREER both parties become.
Life is fleeting, we never know when our time is up. Anything can change in a heartbeat. When we prolong our anger or ill feelings against each other, we may lose the chance to make peace. TOO LATE should never happen to a Christian!
Lord Jesus, make our hearts like unto thine!
