In today’s Gospel, Jesus is telling us that getting by
within the
mind for His followers and spells out clearly what He
expects of all those who profess to believe in Him.  He
doesn’t lay down rules and regulations for every
situation in life, but He does ask us to keep a check on

Thoughts are just as important as deeds.  What we say and do must express
what is in our hearts because good attitudes produce sincere actions. Anyone
can easily perform an outwardly good deed
so readily fooled by such an action.  Jesus gives the commandments a deeper
meaning, stating that they are to be written into our hearts and into the
innermost part of our being. The commandments are a blessing from God and
a sign of His care for us!  They are for our own welfare and pave the path to

inner freedom.  If our goal is merely to avoid breaking them then we are not
striving for any measure of perfection but simply fulfilling the basic minimum
required for salvation.

Christ’s teaching about adultery in the heart may seem harsh, but when we
give the matter some serious thought we see that there is much more needed
in creating a good marriage than simply avoiding the evil of adultery.  
Marriage and happy family life require a whole-hearted and lifelong dedication

by both partners.
themselves emotionally, sexually, spiritually and psychologically to each
other. Forming a circle of love, in order to stand together and
requires a lot of effort and cannot be achieved through a half-hearted
commitment.
Our approach needs to be based on what pleases God, rather than on what we
are bound to do.  Friends, we are not going to be judged on the evil we have
avoided, but on the good works we have carried out.

Let us always be faithful,
Fr. Hilary