Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 27, 2026
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you,
unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
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.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
Christianity is a faith that is to be practiced in two directions. The first is vertical, that is, our individual relationship with God. The second is horizontal, that is, the practice of loving thy neighbor as thyself.
Today’s Scripture is a lesson in how we should love our brothers and sisters. From my perspective, we have nearly mastered the vertical part, but we are struggling mightily with the horizontal part. We are reminded today that we should not make our offering to the Lord unless and until we have shown love and mercy to our neighbors.
I am personally reminded that I need to find ways to forgive trespasses against me, that I must reconcile disputes fairly and quickly with others, and that I must continually rid myself of anger, malice, and schadenfreude. Unfortunately, we carry the pain of previous trespasses with us, and it is these thoughts that harden our hearts to forgiveness, reconciliation, and mercy towards others.
We need to learn “to let go and let God.” Until we learn to do this, we are, unfortunately, blocking our own blessings. Interestingly, 1 Jn 4:20-21 tells us: “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”
The gospels are clear that the consequence of not loving our neighbor as ourselves is spiritual death. If we don’t reconcile ourselves to our brothers and sisters, we will be “liable to fiery Gehenna”, and we won’t be able to escape this punishment until we have “paid the last penny”. Today we have a choice. We can choose everlasting life.
Prayer
Lord, as we get older, we realize more and more the truth that anger exacts a high price. Anger that stews and ferments, day after day, is a prison of our own making. So please help us in a special way today. Grant us the grace of reconciliation where it’s needed. Or maybe we need to go a step back, and ask for the grace to desire to be reconciled. Either way, we yearn to be free from the angry prison in which we’ve placed ourselves—help us grow towards your kingdom. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Thalelaeus lived in present-day Turkey in the fifth century. He lived in a small hut that was near a pagan shrine where people came to sacrifice regularly. The pagan priests tried to scare him away, but he stood his ground and converted many who came to the shrine to worship.
He was said to have lived in a barrel for a number of years as a sign of repentance, and to encourage others to turn from their sin.
He lived as a hermit for 60 years, and was known to weep constantly. In fact, he was given the name, “Epiklautos,” which means “weeping much.” He told those who visited him that time was a gift from God for us to use to repent, “and woe be to us if we neglect it.”
St. Thalelaeus, who wept in repentance and converted many with his life of faithfulness, pray for us!