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Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Ephesians 4:32–5:8
Saint Paul gives us a simple movement.
Leave the old life.
Put on the new life.
Replace bitterness with kindness.
Replace hardness with compassion.
Replace resentment with forgiveness.
This is not only moral advice.
This is imitation of God.
Be kind to one another.
Be compassionate.
Forgive one another
as God has forgiven you in Christ.
This is the measure.
Not how the world forgives.
Not how people usually forgive.
Not only when it is easy.
Not only when the other person deserves it.
Forgive as God forgives.
Then Paul goes deeper.
Be imitators of God, as beloved children.
Live in love,
as Christ loved us
and gave Himself up for us.
This is the heart of Christian life.
Jesus loved us.
Jesus gave Himself for us.
Love is not only feeling.
Love is self-gift.
Love becomes visible.
Love forgives.
Love protects.
Love speaks with purity.
Love does not use others.
Love does not turn God’s gifts into selfish pleasure.
That is why Paul speaks about immorality,
impurity,
and greed.
These things were common in the pagan world.
But they are not fitting for saints.
They are not fitting for children of God.
A Christian cannot simply say:
Everyone does it.
This is normal now.
Times have changed.
Saint Paul says:
You are different now.
You belong to Christ.
Your body belongs to Christ.
Your relationships must belong to Christ.
Your desires must be purified by Christ.
Even greed, Paul says,
is idolatry.
Because greed says:
I need more.
I must have more.
This thing will save me.
But only God can save.
Paul also speaks about our words.
Dirty speech.
Foolish talk.
Vulgar jokes.
Words that make holy things cheap.
Words that degrade what God has given.
The mouth of a Christian should not become a place of darkness.
Our speech should build up.
Our speech should give thanks.
Thanksgiving protects the dignity of God’s gifts.
When we thank God for the body,
for marriage,
for love,
for life,
we learn to treat them with reverence.
Paul is serious.
Those who choose this old way of life
do not inherit the kingdom of God.
A life that refuses Christ
cannot pretend to belong to Christ.
So Paul warns us:
Do not be deceived.
Do not join those who say they believe,
but whose lives deny the Gospel.
For you were once darkness.
But now you are light in the Lord.
This is our new identity.
Children of light.
So our lives must shine.
In kindness.
In compassion.
In forgiveness.
In purity.
In gratitude.
In love.
Christ has brought us out of darkness.
Let us live as children of light.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Content License
© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
(Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).