“Every morning God gives you and me 1,440 minutes to serve Him.” This is an uncredited quote given to the Cathedral staff at our annual retreat last week from Fr. Zaid Chabaan, our retreat director. Another he offered us is from Tolstoy: “Everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.” We are halfway through our journey of Lent and the above quotes give us an opportunity to evaluate where we are in this season of conversion. How is the Lord challenging us to go deeper? Have we killed anyone lately? Why do I ask? Fr. Zaid offered the following reflection: I killed someone last week. If I were being honest, I probably killed several people last week. Last week as I was driving to the grocery store, a woman in front of me decided to make a left hand turn, while occupying two lanes. I had to slam on my brakes and swerve to miss her. In my exasperation, I took aim, and shot her with my words, “What are you doing?!” I didn’t mean to kill her, but my impatience got the best of me.
The commandment ‘You shall not kill’ sounds easy, and it is easy when it’s presented as four words on a stone tablet. However, Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount: You have heard that it was said to men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire (Mt 5:21-22).
Jesus made it clear that killing another person is more than taking a life; it’s much more subtle than that. It’s hurling hurtful words at someone. It’s ruining someone’s reputation with idle gossip. It’s unspoken thoughts of indifference, judgment, and impatience. Not one of us can walk away from Jesus’ words unscathed, or with a clear conscience: All of us break the fifth commandment.
Fr. Henri Nouwen wrote: Nobody is shot with a bullet who is not first shot with a word; and nobody is shot with a word who is not first shot with a thought. We are being challenged by Jesus not to shoot the bullet. Not to shoot the words. Not to shoot the thoughts.
Jesus said if we want to follow him, it isn’t going to be as simple as following a commandment carved in stone. We are being called to go beyond the commandment ‘You shall not kill;’ we are being called not to kill others with our word and thoughts. Saint Augustine said that The Sermon on the Mount is “a perfect standard of the Christian life,” and that’s what makes it so difficult.
When Moses gave the Ten Commandments, he was asking for an outer transformation, now Jesus is asking for an inner transformation; what was written in stone must now be written on our hearts. So, I encourage you to reflect on those questions again: Where we are at in this season of conversion? How is the Lord challenging us to go deeper? Have we killed anyone lately? God bless us on our journey of Lent!
Fr. J.J.