Feb 4. Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Mt. 5/13-16.

BACKGROUND.

St. Matthew's "Sermon on the Mount" was a sermon which was never given. Rather it is a construct, a literary device, the Evangelist uses to pull together in one place teachings of Jesus which appear in different places in the earlier traditions. It is a summary of much of what Jesus said and taught (as this was remembered in later years), a compendium of his wisdom. Moreover the compendium is designed specifically for the instruction, not of the crowds to whom Jesus preached in Galilee, but of the early Christian Community. In the passage we read today Jesus, as edited by the Evangelist, is warning the early Christians that he and his good news will be judged by their behavior. It is well for Christians today to reflect on that truth. If Christianity has a terrible image with many people, it is in substantial part the fault of Christians.

STORY

Once upon a time Molly Whupi and the girls basketball team from Mother Mary High School went all the way across town to play a PUBLIC school that they had never played before. It was a tough game, much tougher than Molly and her team expected. From the very beginning their were fights with the other players, other coaches, the refs, and the crowd. Mother Mary's team, I blush to admit it, talked a lot of trash, committed unnecessary fouls, and had four technicals called against it. Their coach and two of their players were ejected from the game. The rest of the team screamed at the crowd like they were a bunch of fifth graders, though fifth graders - though fifth graders wouldn't know such bad language (well, actually they would, but they'd be less likely to use it in public). Finally, Mother Mary won, but they stomped off the court without saying anything nice to the players on the host team. Later, one of the nuns goes, "WELL, I hope those poor people don't judge all Catholic school students by the way you people acted. Totally gross. Like you were totally NOT the Salt of the earth or the light of the world." Molly knew she was right, so she persuaded the other girls to send letters of apology to the principle and the coach and the captain of the other team.