But I Say to You...

Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time, June 16th, 2025

Jun 16, 2025

Dei Verbum is the dogmatic constitution of the Second Vatican Council on Divine Revelation: Tradition and Sacred Scripture. It is a beautiful text that every Catholic should read, especially as it highlights the revival of the importance of Sacred Scripture in the hearts of Catholics. The document's treatment of Sacred Scripture was necessary due to the Catholic culture’s reactionary response to the Reformation’s emphasis on Sola Scriptura as the sole authority on matters of doctrine. Dei Verbum states, “This commission was faithfully fulfilled by the Apostles who, by their oral preaching, by example, and by observances handed on what they had received from the lips of Christ, from living with Him, and from what He did, or what they had learned through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The commission was fulfilled, too, by those Apostles and apostolic men who under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit committed the message of salvation to writing.”1

It’s essential to note what Dei Verbum explains regarding Sacred Scripture, as it describes how, like tradition, its origin is from the lips of Christ. Sacred Scripture must be held in the same place of reverence as tradition for any Catholic. Furthermore, since Tradition and Sacred Scripture are both forms of revelation, Catholics must realize that the magisterium serves both mediums of revelation. The magisterium cannot contradict any doctrine expressed by revelation. The document informs the faithful the role of the magisterium, “the task of authentically interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on, has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church,9 whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This teaching office is not above the word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on.”2

It’s important to note the setting for today’s gospel. The setting is the Sermon on the Mount, with Jesus sitting on the mount, teaching as the New Moses. Pope Benedict XVI writes, “Jesus sits down—the expression of plenary authority of the teacher. He takes his seat on the cathedra of the mountain.”3 It’s important to note, for the purpose of our reflection today, Jesus instructs the crowd near the beginning of the sermon, just after the Beatitudes:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” -Mt. 5:17

Jesus has not come to abolish the law because He is the law, which is why His words become such an affront to the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. Note the use of “I” by our Lord Jesus in today’s gospel: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you…”4

There is a significant amount of importance in the use of “I” with the crowd surrounding Jesus on the mount, sitting in the authority of the new Moses. It is the reason why Dei Verbum expresses that revelation, whether it comes to us in the medium of Tradition or Sacred Scripture, it sits in authority over magisterium—because of its origin, the Lips of Christ.

Missio Dei

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