Monthly Archives: February 2026

Reflecting on Matthew 5: 17-37

Therapists and marriage counselors all agree on the number one behavior of engaged couples who aren’t going to make it: contempt. The rolled eyes, the crossed arms, the incredulous stare—these are all signs that at least one of the partners holds spoken (or maybe unspoken) contempt for the other. That’s a huge red flag, and a warning that there are many serious issues that need to be brought to light before this couple attempts to marry.

Sure, we all know the Ten Commandments, especially “Thou shalt not kill, “ but dig deep into the reasons for this command, and we find unspoken anger, violent language, and quiet contempt for the other. It’s usually considered bad form to bring this contempt into the light by actually saying out loud the ugliness we harbor in our hearts towards the people we secretly despise, but unless we truly repent of this contempt, it will eventually find its way out of our hearts and into malicious gossip, simmering rage, and, in the worst cases, physical violence.

This portion of the Sermon on the Mount thwarts our attempts to compromise our faith.  If your right hand is your trouble, gouge it out and throw it away. Yikes. Who among us hasn’t broken promises, harbored resentments, imagined the vengeance we would take if given the opportunity? I think this hyperbole that Jesus uses, to gouge out our eyes rather than be thrown into Gehenna, is a good example of the reasonable way to approach a challenging text like this. Everyone has temptations. Has anyone ever actually gouged out their eyes?

The greatest danger is to bask in our contempts. Pray that another isn’t doing the same towards you.

How will you use the upcoming Lent to disarm your resentments?

Kathy McGovern ©2026

Reflecting on Matthew 5: 13-16

Here’s an earthy explanation for Jesus’ words about salt, and how, after it loses its taste, is good for nothing but to be trampled underfoot.

In Israel, even today, many prefer cooking in clay ovens rather than on electric stoves. These ovens have been around since ancient times, and are undoubtedly what Jesus refers to when he speaks of the importance of salt.

The common fuel for these communal ovens was camel or donkey dung. It was the task of the girls in the family to gather the dung, mix salt in it, mold it into patties, and leave them in the sun to dry.

A slab of salt was placed at the base of the oven, and upon it the salted dung patty. Salt has catalytic properties that cause it to burn, so food can be cooked. Dung fuel is still used today.

Eventually, of course, the salt loses its catalytic capacity and becomes useless. Jesus says it’s good for nothing but to be thrown outside, where it can still provide a sure footing in a muddy road. Jesus is so earthy, so at home with the family life of his listeners. No wonder crowds followed him everywhere he went.

I recently read a book that I think you would love. Theo of Golden (by Allen Levi), demonstrates for the reader how to bring light to the world. As one reviewer put it,  You think you’re settling into a quiet story about companionship, but before you know it, you’re rethinking what it means to live a meaningful life. 

It’s like receiving a warm hug, or someone turning on the light in a dark room. It’s what the world needs now.

Who in your life is like salt, bringing joy and Light?

Kathy McGovern ©2026 

Reflecting on Matthew 5:1-12 

Most weeks, when I start this column, I bring up many of my favorite spiritual writers to see what they have to say about that week’s readings. But this week, when praying about the Beatitudes, one name surfaced loudly and clearly: Father Greg Boyle, SJ, founder of Homeboy Industries,  the world’s largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program, ( and yes, there is now Homegirl Industries, too.)

Greg Boyle understands those who are poor, and weak, and grieving. He employs hundreds of them, some right out of prison, in his bakeries and restaurants in Los Angeles. He also understands, intimately, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. He’s at the top of that list.

His teaching on the Beatitudes is simple. It’s just geography. It’s not about WHAT to be, but WHERE to be, which is always with the vulnerable. True blessing isn’t health or wealth, but finding life and joy in solidarity with those the world rejects, even if it leads to crucifixion, since that’s where Jesus is.

So, a re-write of the Beatitudes might be, “You know you’re in the right place if…you are singlehearted, working for justice, showing mercy, working for peace.”

But how do we who have never been materially poor crowd in with, as Richard Rohr writes, the poor in spirit, whose “material poverty has broken their spirit”?  My only answer is to hang out with people who serve those who are poor with abundant love.

Christ, who will always side with the poor, begs us to place ourselves in proximity to “the weak of the world,” so that we too may learn from them. Theirs is the kingdom.

Have you ever been inspired by someone who is “humble and lowly”?

Kathy McGovern ©2026