Word to the Wise
Saturday, June 15, 2024 - Saturday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 19:19-21 and Matt 5:33-37]".....Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the Evil One." [Matthew]
I'm sure many of us could recite the formal oath required before testimony in a courtroom: "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" By answering, "I do," the witness places him or herself under the legal penalty of perjury. (The "so help you God.." is often omitted now!). We have less formal ways of making the same promise, for example: "Cross my heart and hope to die!" Jesus sets a standard of conduct that would eliminate the need for an oath of truth. He simply says, "Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'"
All of this places a premium on telling the truth. St. Paul describes the process as "speaking the truth in love." [Eph. 4:15]. Truth can be something far more than objective facts supported by empirical evidence. We recite the Nicene Creed at the celebration of Eucharist on Sunday, which contains "truths" that we profess as Christians. These "truths" are the subjects of our faith and "scientific evidence" of them is outside the capacity of empirical science.
Jesus asks us to be truthful in such a way that we do not need to swear an oath with a penalty attached to it in case we are being less than truthful. In an election year that can be hard to find in public life. For the time being, we can ask ourselves if our "Yes means Yes" and our "No means No?" AMEN