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Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said to
your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the
Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all…”
Matthew 5:33–34
The purpose of an oath was to guarantee the truthfulness of the
statement made. Sometimes this can be very good. For example, many
of the Sacraments involve making a public vow before God and the
Church. In these cases, the vow is a form of oath that is
solemnized so as to invite the grace of God to enter and strengthen
it. It becomes a way of making a public witness to one’s faith and
an expression of one’s need for God’s grace to be faithful to the
promise that is made.
Jesus is not speaking about these forms of public vows, oaths and
promises in the Gospel today. Instead, He is addressing a practice
that some engaged in, whereby they regularly swore on God’s name
about the truthfulness of what they were saying. The problem with
this is that it takes something solemn and sacred and carelessly
turns it into something ordinary. There is no need to “swear to
God” about everything one says.
First of all, if one feels a need to call on God’s name regularly
so as to convince another of the truthfulness of their statements,
then it is most likely the case that they do so because they are
struggling with dishonesty. Oath-taking on a regular basis seems to
presuppose a human tendency to lie. For that reason, it is not
ideal to go about one’s daily interactions with this
presupposition. Instead, as Christians we must strive for a
fundamental disposition of truthfulness. Jesus concludes this
Gospel teaching by saying, “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your
‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the Evil One.” In other
words, work to become a person of true honesty and integrity. Be
sincere in all of your dealings, and do not begin with a
presupposition of dishonesty. Begin with the intention of complete
honesty and sincerity, and that will suffice.
Furthermore, if one were to go about their day making one oath
after another, swearing on God’s name to the truthfulness every
time, this would have the effect of lessening the solemnity of
those few times when this is a good and holy practice. Making
public vows, such as marriage vows, or public promises, such as
priests make, are unique and solemn. Publicly renewing our faith
within the Church, taking an oath as one begins the responsibility
of some public office, or any other more solemn opportunity for
oath-taking should be seen as a special occasion. Therefore, our
daily commitments must simply be the fruit of our honesty and
integrity as persons.
Reflect, today, upon your own daily approach to honesty and
sincerity. Do you go about your day with the goal of living in the
truth, speaking the truth and seeking the truth? Are you honest
with others, seeking good and clear communication with them? Ponder
these questions and know that interior integrity requires these
virtues of honesty and sincerity. Seek that integrity and others
will benefit as they grow to trust you each and every
day.
Lord, You are the source of all truth, and You are Truth Itself.
Please help me to become a daily instrument of that Truth in all
that I say and do. I choose You and Your holy will always, and I
choose to be Your instrument for all to see. Jesus, I trust in
You.
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