Anger is an emotion or a passion that is part of our life as human beings. Jesus speaks out strongly against giving this emotion free reign in our lives however. He wants us to see that if anger goes unchecked, it will inevitably lead to murder. We can certainly distinguish between our thoughts and our actions, but the starting place of all human action is reason. When reason takes its cues from anger, the resulting action is a violent rectification. We must learn to distinguish between what needs to be corrected because it is unjust or untrue, and what we would simply like to change because it goes against our own ideas or perspectives.
Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Jesus’ attitude towards the Law is not obvious at first sight. It would seem on the one hand that He moves away from a strict observance of the details of the Law and towards a deeper conversion of heart and adherence to the principles of the Law. “You strain out the gnat but swallow a camel!”, “You have heard it said[…], I say to you […]” However, in today’s Gospel, Jesus makes sure that His insistence on the essence of the Law does not encourage His followers to abandon the details altogether.
Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
At first glance the story about the widow in Zarephath seems a bit harsh, perhaps too demanding. How could God expect someone on the point of starvation to provide what would be their last meal to a stranger? Why would He ask someone to do such a thing? It reminds us of Abraham who is asked by God to offer his only son Isaac. When it is God Himself who asks, obedience must be understood as access to true happiness. God gives us these stories to remind us that we cannot discern what we ought to do without consulting Him, His Word, His prophets.