Reflection on the Gospel – Friday, June 13, 2025

To be honest, our first reaction to Jesus’ words today might be: “He’s wrong.” Wanting something and actually doing it aren’t the same thing, and they don’t have the same consequences. That seems obvious. But one thing about Jesus is that he always tries to take us deeper—he wants us to understand that following the law isn’t just about the letter, it’s about the heart.

If a law is just about something external—like, let’s say, a rule that everyone has to wear a hat or pay a fine—then sure, it’s enough to simply obey it. You don’t have to agree with it in your heart. That kind of law doesn’t really touch who you are inside.

But when it comes to something deeper and more personal, then the heart does matter. When Jesus says that the only real law for a Christian is love, that’s not something we can fake. People can tell. In fact, we know that pretending to love without truly caring is pure hypocrisy—just putting on a show. If there’s no real love in our heart, no real concern for others, then what kind of love is that? It’s empty. And Jesus is clear: he wants us to love one another. Nothing more, nothing less.

This also works the other way around: sin begins inside us, too. If someone wants to do harm—even if they don’t go through with it—the evil already lives in their heart. Sure, the consequences aren’t the same as actually doing it. But still, that darkness is there. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we know it.

I truly hope God will have great mercy on us, because He knows how limited we are. But as followers of Jesus, we have to recognize that we’re called to do good and to love as fully and deeply as we can. And that kind of love can only come from the very core of who we are. So when we start to feel something harmful growing in our hearts, we need to do our best to get rid of it—because it hurts us, and it will end up hurting our brothers and sisters too.