Daily Gospel Reflection

Would You Steal from God?

Hi, I'm Matthew Kelly. Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where we are exploring the genius of Jesus, the genius of the gospels, the genius of Catholicism. Each day, we're looking for a word, a phrase, or an idea that jumps out at us to anchor our day in the Gospel. Today's reading comes from Matthew chapter 5 verses 38 through 42. You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, "Do not resist one who is evil. But if one who strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

And if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile with him, go two miles. Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you. What jumps out at you today? It's radical, right? It's like, give to him who asks from you. People are asking you all the time for stuff, right? Give to him who wants to borrow from you. People may be asking you to borrow stuff or money all the time. The gospel is radical.

But what jumps out at me is this idea of, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth from the Old Testament, and Jesus saying, no, we're going to rise above that. We're going to evolve beyond that in our spirituality. And we're not going to be vengeful people. That's not going to be part of who we are. The question we have to ask ourselves, because I think we do live in a very vengeful culture. When things happen, people want revenge. They don't just want justice. They want revenge. And we read in Romans, vengeance belongs to God. And only a fool steals from God. Like think about it, would you steal from God? That would be an epic mistake. But we make it all the time. If vengeance belongs to the Lord, then whenever we act out of revenge, whenever we seek vengeance, we're actually stealing from God. Maybe there's other ways we're stealing from God as well. Have an amazing day. Remember, be bold, be Catholic.