YEAR B: HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B (1)
YEAR B: HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
HOMILY THEME: ADDRESSING THE ROOT OF EVIL
BY: Fr. Benny Tuazon
(Mt. 5:27-32) Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the day’s Gospel Jesus addresses the root of evil in order to have an essentially holy life. Sins, like adultery, destroy married life. But adultery is brought about by lust. Lust must be avoided in order to evade sin. In the same way, other sources of temptation must be rejected in order to eliminate sin. Jesus even went as far as removing anything which causes sin. He takes temptation seriously that it became part of the Lord’s Prayer.
All sins come from the mind and the heart. Jesus knew our weaknesses. Jesus knew how weak and susceptible we are against temptations. While temptations themselves are not sins, being subject to them more or less leads to sin. Thus, for Jesus, why expose yourself even to temptations? Why watch an x rated movie? Why go to private and dark places? Why go with people who will cause you to sin? Why even temp yourself? Indeed, one need not commit adultery to destroy a marriage. One need not kill to eliminate the life of the other. One need not act to cause damage. The evil intentions of the spirit, mind, or heart are enough to propagate sin. Sin must be addressed radically. It means avoiding even temptation.
