Daily Gospel Reflection – Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle
Bishop Robert Barron
June 11,2022
Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle
Gospel: Mt 5: 5:33-37
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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;
not by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Do not swear by your head,
for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the Evil One.”
*United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Bishop Robert Barron
Friends, in today’s Gospel, the Lord teaches his way about oaths and vows.
Although Jesus prohibited oath-taking, the tradition of the Church has allowed oaths “made for grave and right reasons,” for example, in court. But the Church has traditionally employed vows to sustain the commitments of priests and religious so that they may, as the Catechism puts it, “conform themselves more fully to the obedient Christ.”
For example, vows have sustained the holiness of many women religious who have become saints, including St. Katharine Drexel, a philanthropist who shows us what justice looks like when it is invaded by love; Thérèse of Lisieux, a Doctor of the Church whose “little way” demonstrates a prudence radicalized by Christ; St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), a philosopher and martyr who is an icon of evangelical courage; and St. Teresa of Kolkata, a missionary of charity who embodies the power of poverty and asceticism when placed in the service of Jesus.
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