Snowball represents simple, joyful, and innocent winter play when soft, sticky snow is available. It often evokes the innocence and fleeting magic of childhood. However, the term “snowball” can also take on a darker meaning when words or actions that initially seem harmless have spiralled out of control and “snowballed” into massive problems with unwanted, unpleasant or harmful consequences, usually hard and painful, sometimes impossible to deal with. The best way to do so is to prevent such a buildup in the first place or to address problems as soon as they become apparent. That’s what today’s gospel is all about.
At first glance, the standards set by Jesus are impossible to uphold: “If you insult someone, you will be judged by the high court. And if you call someone a fool, you will be in danger of the fire of hell. […] Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” to recall just a couple of examples. For some people, those standards can be a source of guilt as they try but repeatedly fail to conquer their sexual appetite, short temper, vengefulness, and so on. Others, concluding that those standards are simply unachievable, admire them but ignore them in everyday life. Both attitudes, and everything in between, come from a misunderstanding of Jesus’ teaching. We must look at them and interpret those calls in the wider context of Jesus’ entire speech entitled “The Sermon on the Mount.”
It began with the Beatitudes we heard a couple of weeks ago. They are like a panoramic view of Christian ethics. Then Jesus “zoomed in” to draw bold contours by recalling the Jewish moral code: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. […] Until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” In other words, the Ten Commandments remain in force and mark moral boundaries that must not be crossed. Finally, Jesus presented a few real-life examples of how to “fulfil” and “accomplish” the Law. It was done in the “contrast and compare” manner, starting with the line: “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Each example opened up in a similar fashion. Firstly, Jesus recalled one of the commandments and its traditional interpretation, in this way: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgement.’” Then he stamped his authority, setting a much higher standard: “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement…” followed by quite an extensive apparent prescription, often seen by us as impossible to apply. Each of those examples (we heard only four in today’s gospel) deserves its own interpretation, but it would unreasonably prolong this sermon, so let’s focus on the one I have already recalled.
It referred to a very common challenge in human interactions: a conflict between two parties. Jesus talked about anger, name-calling and other unpleasant ways of dealing with the opponent and dismissed them as wrong. Jesus called here to nip a conflict in the bud, to deal with it at the initial stages before it snowballs into a much bigger problem. Name-calling is often the first stage in the opposite direction. It belittles or even dehumanises the opponent, making it easier to attack them ever more strongly. Similarly, when we harbour and hone anger or negative emotions towards those who have wronged us, it will eventually lead to vengeful words or actions. Hideous crimes we hear about in the news started as small, almost seemingly inconsequential slights that, left to fester over time, developed into nasty and harmful attitudes towards the crimes’ victims. Sexual violence and abuse have a different starting point but follow the same pattern. We are naturally hardwired to have our attention drawn to attractive people. But we can easily reduce them in our perception to a sexual object only, with no regard or respect for their dignity. It may start with an “innocent” turning of the head, but left unchecked, it can quickly delve into pornography and, in too many cases to actual sexual violence.
In this part of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus illustrated the need to “Be on your guard and stay awake” (1 Peter 5:8), but not in a neurotic, fearful manner, afraid of falling into sin. We must instead be positive and proactive, striving to build strong, friendly, and respectful relationships, persevering even when there are no immediate positive results. Let me give an example. I guess you still remember the heavy snowfalls in January. On day one, I cleared a path from the entrance to the church grounds in Inverurie to the church, presbytery and parish hall doors, only to find it completely covered with snow a couple of hours later. So I did it again, and again, and again; two or three times a day, back to square one after another heavy snowfall. It seemed and felt like a futile and thankless job. However, having grown up in a country with harsh winters, I knew it would be easier to keep clearing the path rather than deal with compacted snow later. I felt a sense of satisfaction when the thaw finally arrived, as the church grounds became snow-free within hours, unlike many public pavements that remained ice-covered and slippery for up to a week. Similarly, if we try to sort out tensions, conflicts, and temptations before they have grown arms and legs, if we try to understand, forgive, and ask for forgiveness, we have a good chance of a more peaceful life. The decision is yours; as we heard in the first reading, “to act faithfully is a matter of choice.”
