It takes a while to grow up.

When I was a boy, I and my brother, who was older by four years, heard a reading at Mass that included the Hebrew word raqa. The reading told us that one must not say raqa to his brother, since it meant “Thou fool,” and would be will be answerable to the Sanhedrin. Obviously the moment we left church we began to say, with impunity and humor, raqa, raqa, raqa to each other, since we were brothers in the strict sense of the word.

This unusual word raqa is used in today’s Gospel (or at least in the “long version”). Jesus does not say it lightly, as the years have helped me see.

Obviously, human beings do grow up and a progression takes place. A progression I mean from the uncomplicated, grinning approach to the commandments, to a place from which we can truly have understanding, and—if we can hang on into true maturity—to an experience of the insides of the commandments.

That progression is one way of looking at the readings for this Sunday.

In the First Reading, the writer speaks in very plain terms, as a father might speak to a son or daughter.

If you choose,
you can keep the commandments;
they will save you.
If you trust in God,
you too shall live.

These ancient words echo one of the first books of the Jewish testament:

I have set before you life and death,
blessing and curse.
Choose life,
that you and your descendants may live,
by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice,
and holding fast to him. (Deut 30: 19-20)

Though my brother and I were boys, we would have understood. We would have recognized “life and death, good and evil.” God was showing us how uncomplicated it is, how un-mysterious and remote for anyone to understand.

Eons later, Jesus came along. The people had already taken the commandments seriously, but now Jesus gave nuance and fullness to them. They became “a wisdom to those who are mature, … God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined before the ages. … ” (Second Reading)

So, one by one, Jesus took the various laws, in all their externality, and drew out their inner roots.

Like this:

 • One external injunction had been against killing. The inside of that law is, do not even act out of anger for your brother or sister. Not even the word raqa should be spoken.

 • You shall not commit adultery. The inside of that law is: be pure enough to not even glance lustfully at a woman.

 • Divorce. The interior law is, stay faithful and loving within your marriage relationship, not just do not separate.

 • Finally, oaths. We could talk of these for pages, but here just realize that today people do use oaths, such as, “ … in the name of God, … ” or “OMG,” (which stands for O, MY GOD!), or e.g., “By God, I will never let you. … ” You hear such slang everywhere, movies, television, high schools, grade schools. Jesus diagnoses these usages simply: you are trying to make up for your weakness by putting almighty power behind your words. He tells them he has a better way. Just say yes or no, and mean it. Or, to say it another way, be real.

Jesus did speak to children, but here it is to us adults. He is offering us the Spirit, and, as St. Paul tells us, the Spirit "scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God”!

Watch Jesus as you progress through life. The inside of the law is written in his heart. As you and I grow up, let it be written in ours too.