A Homily for the Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua
Friday, June 13, 2025
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 Mass
2 Corinthians 4:7-15; Psalm 116:10-11, 15-16, 17-18; Matthew 5:27-32
Audio Recording
“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out…”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks words that are both startling and sobering: “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out… If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off…”
It’s hard to hear these words without being shaken, and that’s exactly the point. Jesus is not advocating physical self-harm — He is speaking in a dramatic and deliberate way to make us take sin seriously. Sin is not a minor spiritual blemish. It’s a wound to our relationship with God, and often with others.
Saint Augustine gives us a helpful lens through which to understand this teaching. He interprets the “right eye” not as a literal eye, but as a symbol of that which is most important to us — perhaps our closest companions, those who we cherish most. The “right eye” and “right hand” signify our dearest relationships OR our strongest habits, the parts of our life we rely on or cling to.
If these most precious parts of our life become occasions for sin, Jesus is saying that we must be willing to let them go.
When someone — even a family member or a beloved friend — leads us away from God’s grace, we must be courageous enough to remove their influence. This doesn’t mean we stop loving them. On the contrary, we love them in truth, even if that love now takes the form of silence, distance, or prayer from afar.
And this principle applies beyond relationships. What habits, media or environments lead us into sin? What do we need to “cut off” or “tear out” of our life, even if it feels like losing a part of ourselves? Christ’s words urge us to be ruthless with sin, because sin is ruthless with us.
So today, let’s examine our hearts with courage and clarity. Which relationships and personal habits bring forth good fruit and reflect the love of God? Give thanks for those and nurture them. And which ones hinder our spiritual growth? What do we need to cut off or tear out from our lives?
Because in the end, as Jesus says, it is far better to lose a part of ourselves than to lose our soul.
God bless you.