With today’s Gospel we are in Beatitudes territory. Listening to the Sermon on the Mount, certitudes are flipped. Am I convicted by searing questions of what really matters, when I say, ‘I give you my word,’ I am looking into the eyes of God?

Jesus here is addressing his audience’s liking for wriggle room, for avoiding speaking intentionally, or saying what they mean: so, they swear ‘by heaven, by earth, by Jerusalem, by my head.’

In contrast, the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 reflect the honest, covenant relationship God desires with His People: love the Lord your God with your whole heart. In the Catholic Catechism the Commandments follow a journey through the Beatitudes and then the Catholic Social Teachings: the dignity of the person, the common good, solidarity, preferential option for the poor, the care of the earth.

We have two common expressions: ‘I give you my word’ and ‘I’ll take your word for it.’ The first has notions of integrity, sincerity of promise and noble guarantee; but the second is open to overtones of scepticism and even mockery. It has become OK to not say what we mean.

Jesus is begging his listeners not to enter the territory of the Evil One, who promised him all the kingdoms of the world, and who tells lies.

Even so, there is the grace of awareness of when we are being tempted to lie and the grace of forgiveness when we fail, ‘for the Lord is kind and merciful.’ (Psalm 103).

By Peter Webb