The Virtues of the Sermon on the Mount
The Gospel reading for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) is a portion of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:17-37), "the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest Preacher who ever preached," according to Peter Kreeft. In this segment of the sermon, just a few sentences after listing the Beatitudes, the Lord provides His audience (the hearers on the mount and us in the modern age) a new and fulfilled understanding of the Law. Those who follow Christ must examine their attitudes and actions in a way that is different than the legalistic culture of His day and the world in which we live. Quite simply, a person who claims to be a disciple of Jesus must be ready to cultivate virtues, which will help her to choose rightly in the face of anger, lust, or even cultural tradition.
Virtues are the habitual dispositions of mind and heart that lead individuals to act according to God's gracious plan. It is no coincidence, then, that there are certain virtues directly associated with Jesus' lessons, specifically with this segment of his inaugural sermon. A person must make a habit of thinking and acting rightly about the topics that Jesus discussed if he is to live according to the Lord's direction.
It would be easy to spend much time examining all of the virtues related to the Sermon on the Mount, from the first beatitude to the story of two men who built their houses on rock and sand. In fact, there might be a teaching and writing series about that in the future. Yet, there is not enough time or space in this article. Thus, the discussion here will be limited only to the Gospel reading referenced above.
The first virtue that will assist with living out Jesus' teaching is obedience. In the first paragraph of the Gospel text, the Lord remarks that He has not come to abolish the Law (of Moses) or the prophets, but to fulfill both (5:17-18). The Messiah reaffirms that breaking the commandments, and leading others to do the same, merits a lesser status than those who practice obedience and share that message (5:19). Yet, there is a caveat. Christ remarks that a person's righteousness must surpass "that of the scribes and Pharisees" if one is to enter the kingdom of heaven (5:20). The scribes and Pharisees certainly were obedient to the letter of the law, but they failed to grasp the spirit of the law. They were obedient for the sake of outward appearance. One who is truly righteous, truly in right relationship with God, is obedient for the sake of pleasing the Lord who is good and gracious. There is a great difference between military obedience, for example, and Christian obedience which comes from authentic inner joy at the commandments of the Lord.
Mercy is a second applicable virtue, which allows a person to live Christ's call to brotherly reconciliation (5:21-26). Without mercy, relationships become adversarial, and a person is liable to judgment. It rarely is a positive outcome when a person receives his just desserts, especially in an eternal sense. It is only because of God's mercy that we are not subject to His anger and wrath. The virtue of mercy is the way that a person forgives and finds forgiveness from another, the way that God's love is manifest within that human relationship. This, for example, is precisely the reason why we celebrate the Sign of Peace during Mass: we break momentarily from our orientation toward the altar, and we reconcile with brothers and sisters so that we can return our focus to the altar in true communion with our fellow man.
In this segment of the sermon, Jesus also addresses relationships between members of the opposite sex, including marriages (5:27-32). In such relationships the virtue of chastity absolutely essential for living up to Christ's moral commandments. Chastity allows a person to gain and exhibit control over his thoughts and actions so that he can make a sincere gift of himself to others, and especially to the woman to whom God has joined him. A lack of chastity (on the part of a man or a woman) wrecks relationships because both partners begin to feel used by the other. When partners feel used by the other, they only turn in on themselves and focus on satiating their own passions and emotions. Control of self through chastity, on the other hand, treats the other as a unique and beautiful person. The person who cultivates chastity has thriving relationships, especially thriving marriages, because they are outwardly focused.
Two other virtues relate to Jesus' exhortation: honesty and prudence. Jesus forbade making false oaths and swearing by God or man (5:33-36). Instead of swearing oaths, Jesus instructs his audience, "Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one" (5:37). Sometimes, oath-swearing might cover for half-truths, or for twisting a reality to one's preference. Honesty is the virtue by which a person is disposed to tell the truth in all circumstances, regardless of the outcome. Prudence is the virtue that assists the same person to know what should or should not be stated in any given situation. If a person exercises honesty and prudence at the same time, exactly what is stated is sufficient for that situation. Nothing more and nothing less needs to be said.
Let us not be deceived. Bringing these virtues into our lives, allowing them to grow, and exercising them habitually will not be easy. However, growing in these and the whole panoply of virtues will make our lives healthier and happier in the long run, even into the eternal long run. Because of virtues like obedience, mercy, chastity, honesty, prudence, and a host of others, men and women will be drawn into holiness, which is exactly where Christ's teaching is meant to lead us. Let us begin to examine every one of Christ's words and ask which of our life's habits need to change in order to match His perfection.
Virtues are the habitual dispositions of mind and heart that lead individuals to act according to God's gracious plan. It is no coincidence, then, that there are certain virtues directly associated with Jesus' lessons, specifically with this segment of his inaugural sermon. A person must make a habit of thinking and acting rightly about the topics that Jesus discussed if he is to live according to the Lord's direction.
It would be easy to spend much time examining all of the virtues related to the Sermon on the Mount, from the first beatitude to the story of two men who built their houses on rock and sand. In fact, there might be a teaching and writing series about that in the future. Yet, there is not enough time or space in this article. Thus, the discussion here will be limited only to the Gospel reading referenced above.
The first virtue that will assist with living out Jesus' teaching is obedience. In the first paragraph of the Gospel text, the Lord remarks that He has not come to abolish the Law (of Moses) or the prophets, but to fulfill both (5:17-18). The Messiah reaffirms that breaking the commandments, and leading others to do the same, merits a lesser status than those who practice obedience and share that message (5:19). Yet, there is a caveat. Christ remarks that a person's righteousness must surpass "that of the scribes and Pharisees" if one is to enter the kingdom of heaven (5:20). The scribes and Pharisees certainly were obedient to the letter of the law, but they failed to grasp the spirit of the law. They were obedient for the sake of outward appearance. One who is truly righteous, truly in right relationship with God, is obedient for the sake of pleasing the Lord who is good and gracious. There is a great difference between military obedience, for example, and Christian obedience which comes from authentic inner joy at the commandments of the Lord.
Mercy is a second applicable virtue, which allows a person to live Christ's call to brotherly reconciliation (5:21-26). Without mercy, relationships become adversarial, and a person is liable to judgment. It rarely is a positive outcome when a person receives his just desserts, especially in an eternal sense. It is only because of God's mercy that we are not subject to His anger and wrath. The virtue of mercy is the way that a person forgives and finds forgiveness from another, the way that God's love is manifest within that human relationship. This, for example, is precisely the reason why we celebrate the Sign of Peace during Mass: we break momentarily from our orientation toward the altar, and we reconcile with brothers and sisters so that we can return our focus to the altar in true communion with our fellow man.
In this segment of the sermon, Jesus also addresses relationships between members of the opposite sex, including marriages (5:27-32). In such relationships the virtue of chastity absolutely essential for living up to Christ's moral commandments. Chastity allows a person to gain and exhibit control over his thoughts and actions so that he can make a sincere gift of himself to others, and especially to the woman to whom God has joined him. A lack of chastity (on the part of a man or a woman) wrecks relationships because both partners begin to feel used by the other. When partners feel used by the other, they only turn in on themselves and focus on satiating their own passions and emotions. Control of self through chastity, on the other hand, treats the other as a unique and beautiful person. The person who cultivates chastity has thriving relationships, especially thriving marriages, because they are outwardly focused.
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The Virtue of Chastity by Giovanni Baglione |
Let us not be deceived. Bringing these virtues into our lives, allowing them to grow, and exercising them habitually will not be easy. However, growing in these and the whole panoply of virtues will make our lives healthier and happier in the long run, even into the eternal long run. Because of virtues like obedience, mercy, chastity, honesty, prudence, and a host of others, men and women will be drawn into holiness, which is exactly where Christ's teaching is meant to lead us. Let us begin to examine every one of Christ's words and ask which of our life's habits need to change in order to match His perfection.