The Gospel of Mathew, chapter 5:34-35

One of the beatitudes states: “blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” The Lord, in his commentary on this beatitude in chapter five of St. Matthew’s gospel, declares that our answer should be “yes” when it means “yes,” and “no” when it means “no.”

There was a study done several years ago as to why people lie? The simple answer offered in this study was that people lie because they don’t know they are lying. Lying has become commonplace nowadays. We are constantly barraged by ads on television that try to sell something by shading the truth about a product rather than telling the truth. People seem to accept this kind of behavior as a matter of course. They don’t see anything wrong with it. Yet, it is contrary to the gospel of Jesus, and should be ardently avoided by Christians.

Some years ago, a man I knew asked me to pray for a citrus company he managed. He told me that the harvest was so bountiful, enough for two years, that his company could not find enough storage space for the over-abundance of citrus. Emphasizing that I would not like to hear what he was going to say because of its financial impact on poor farm-workers, he asserted that only a very poor harvest the following year could save the company from calamity. Well, the following year produced a poor harvest, and, what do you know, the company raised the price of citrus, citing the need to make up for the poor harvest. I spoke with the manager and asked: “how could you do this since you told me you had an abundance of citrus left over from last year?” He murmured:” that’s business, father.”

There is no honest reason why businesses should resort to these greedy tactics. Lately, Facebook got into trouble when its data scientists tried to manipulate the reactions, and emotions of its readers for its own selfish advantage. Fortunately, these greedy tactics were exposed, and Facebook had to acknowledge wrongdoing. Today’s message, obviously, poses a daunting challenge in today’s digital age.

The truth, it appears, is a difficult pill to swallow. That’s why people don’t trust each other; that’s why they use lie-detectors in job applications; that’s why they take oaths.

If people could be truthful and honest, they would not have to take oaths; their word would be their bond. Their “yes” would be “yes”; their “no” would be “no.”

This is why the Lord says: “do not take an oath at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth; for it is his footstool.”

Fr. Hugh Duffy