The Gospel According to the World

The Holy Gospel according to Matthew this Lenten season (March 14, 2025) brokers no wiggle room for those perpetually intent on partisan cherry picking God’s Word that primarily—even exclusively—emphasizes Matthew 25: 31-46 and Acts  2:  42-47 for populous and personal gain in power, prestige, and prosperity.

Cutting and pasting a few slivers of Scripture verses into social or political dialogue, even scolding, is evil.  It does not even particularly serve those two most populated quoted ones named above or the Bible overall.  Moreover, note that according to Catholic Resources, on the Bible—New Testament in the Greek— Matthew’s Gospel contains 28 Chapters, 1071 Verses and 18, 345 words.  Acts also has 28 chapters, 1,006 verses, and 18, 451 words (catholic-resources.org)

Jesus Christ was all about perfect comprehensiveness, context and interconnectivity, including what would become known as the Old Testament.  At one encounter, He emphasized that He had not come to abolish the old law but to fulfill it .( Matthew 5:17 ) When the opportunistic connivers then — as they do so today—attempted to pluck the most convenient and self serving portions of contemporary “law,”  Jesus check-mated them.

More on that in a bit, first pivoting to today’s readings.  

Emphatically in Mathew 5:20-26, Jesus insists that the Commandment against killing encompasses wrath:  “But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother Raqa , will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, You fool, will be liable to fiery Gehenna.”  He then exhorts his disciples to first “be reconciled with your brother and then come and offer your gift (at the altar).”  He continues that they “settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.”  Here he refers to judgment that “you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

Today, rage against opponents, real and perceived enemies, has intensified and turned bloody and destructive globally.  In the United States thousands of visible and physically threatening protesters daily and for years have stormed streets and buildings.  Incredibly, recently, the once idolized electric car has evolved into a symbol of tyranny for those who despise President Trump and Elon Musk.  One man claimed to have bought a Tesla just so he could publicly demolish the vehicle.  Would that car not have benefited a poorer person?  Or why did this same man not buy another brand and donate it? Just like the falsehood of the environmentalists “the sky is falling” crowd that would dictate to us control over every paper towel, these zealots contradict even the few lines of Scripture they value above and in place of all else.

Where are the Democrat “preachers”  like Senator Warnock to condemn these actions, especially those in the Democrat Party who most often scold the country’s mostly wealthy with Matthew 25?  I specify Senator Warnock because Alveda King, a courageous pro life and civil rights leader, called out this supposed, self proclaimed man of God for his falsehoods and religious misrepresentations back in 2016.  Insistent Catholics like Pelosi are quick to foster violence, according to personal agendas (“People will do what people will do”) but pull the Matthew 25 “card” in a mega instant if it denounces an adversarial political bloc representing over seventy million people.  

Parenthetically, this is not a new charge of hypocrisy or abuse of the Word, as the pro life—anti abortion—movement has made similar criticisms over the decades.  

Now, one or more political groups are not solely guilty of misplaced wrath.  The “right,” today, a bit smug and falsely confident in the worldly turn of events (Election 2024),  often spew hatred, insults, and curses on air and Internet posting sites.   They say to the victor goes the spoils,  but their words and vitriol are inexcusable —sinful—and only inflame passion instead of building virtue.

Still, the one prominent Party habitually misapplies Scripture and most dominantly one or two verses.  Mostly socialists and Democrats have carved them into a different stone—tech tablets of talking points—in place of the Ten Commandments espoused throughout the Old and New Testament.   Consider the following:

Matthew 25:  31-46 beautifully embraces that which we must accomplish daily if we are to be recognized by Jesus Christ on the Day of Judgment.  No question or dispute.  Yet, Jesus references individuals, not government leadership or programs.  This is critical to underscore.  The fact that someone votes for candidates who will, in turn, simply confiscate labor earnings to fund various enterprises that purportedly assist the impoverished is not Charity, per se. or necessarily good.  Mandating everyone to donate to a massive bureaucracy in the name of giving hardly merits “bonus points” on Judgment Day.  Besides, these intra—inter state and international projects are often physically and spiritually lethal, anti-Christian encroachments:  abortion, sterilization, sexuality outside the bounds of Holy Matrimony, trans ideology, acceptance of homosexuality, and so forth.  That some true aid may be bundled in with these efforts cannot nullify or excuse other aims.

Too, this passage on corporeal works also references the spiritual works of Divine Mercy.  We will be asked:  Did we feed Truth to our brothers and sisters in need of that nourishment?  Worse, did we feed them poison that derailed their pursuit of the good, true, and beautiful?  Did we clothe them with intercessory prayer?  Or, worse, misrepresent the Faith and cover them with deceitful avoidance of God’s law and justice?  Did we give them the cup of genuine Love (for body and soul) when thirsty?  Consider one of Jesus’s Last Words from the Cross.  Did we welcome them into the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, or did we usher them into a pseudo edifice of deceit and ultimate destruction?  When they were imprisoned in sin, did we visit them and share genuine freedom?  Or tragically, did we fail to protect and nurture those poor innocent babies enclosed in the womb, hoping for release into life and Baptism?

For further reflection, though not often specifically, politically noted are the Beatitudes (also Matthew 5:1-12), well before the final judgment of nations:  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Not all materially poor are poor in spirit and genuinely faithful wealthy persons may exhibit extraordinary stewardship. The Beatitudes continue with an emphasis on the interior disposition of blessed souls, those who mourn for good; the meek; the seekers of righteousness; the merciful; the clean of heart; the peacemakers.

As for Acts 2:  42-47,  one must note that contributing all in the early Church days to a particular community, like one big shared pot, was both voluntary and contingent on that community doing God’s will.   It was most certainly not communism or an abdication to a worldly power to take such possessions and move them about in a manner that not only failed to reach the needy but demanded their very souls to receive such goods.  Note the international programs going back decades that falsified intent and brutalized trusting but needy people (and still do).  The late Father Paul Marx, founder of Human Life International, and later the Population Research Institute, published regular newsletters at least forty years ago that disclosed the atrocious American programs that stealthily  imposed population controls on those most ignorant recipients of these crafty endeavors.   A sociologist, Father Marx also spread the Good News and factual news as much as possible.  Sadly, relatively few listened, either in the halls of Congress or across the nation.

As an side, Ananias and Sapphire (Acts 5: 1-10) did not perish because they failed to contribute all their goods but for lying about it.  Does this not call to mind that many of our so called leaders gloat about their concern for the poor and how much “public service” they have given over time, actually enriching themselves.  The top tier of the Democrat Party are multi millionaires.  Yes, many Republicans are, as well, but they are not the ones guilting Americans as its major platform for even questioning massive spending that is imposing about $100,000 per person debt on all. 

Hope still reigns, though, especially in the Year 2025.  Personally, I am grateful for all the wonderful resources now available for the conscientious Catholic to read and ponder the entirety of Scripture, in a way that interconnects the Old and New Testament and reaffirms integrity in Truth and Love.   The ultimate question and challenge is:  Will each of us genuinely seek and live that authenticity of the Word in its entirety,  strive to internalize that wisdom with integrity;  and think, speak, and act the Word for the gain of the eternal Kingdom of God, not secular, worldly empowerment?

Will we love God above all else and our neighbor as we do our truly faithful selves?