The Sermon on the Mount, The Letter of the Law, and the Epstein Files

Today’s reflection is from Bondings 2.0 contributor Ariell Watson Simon, whose brief bio and previous posts can be found here.

Today’s liturgical readings for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time can be found here.

“I’m not touching you!” the child says gleefully, wiggling fingers an inch from her sibling, who continues to squeal. Maybe you remember being that kid, delighted to find a loophole that allows you to continue pestering a sibling, while technically following instructions. Maybe you’ve been that parent, exasperated that the clear command to “give your brother some space” has been interpreted too narrowly. As we know from childhood on, there’s a big difference between obeying the letter of the law and complying with its spirit.

In the portion of the Sermon on the Mount read in this Sunday’s lectionary, Jesus contends with this distinction. He calls out the hypocrisy of those who, like mischievous children, have technically complied with God’s commandments, all while circumventing the true boundaries they were instituted to protect. Jesus calls his followers to look beyond the letter of the law to understand its spirit. 

In the midst of this message, Jesus gives a caveat: 

Do not think I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfill them. The truth is, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter of the Law, not the smallest part of a letter, will be done away with until it is all fulfilled (Matthew 5, Inclusive Lectionary)

This is Jesus’s warning against over-correction. On the one hand, he is proclaiming the importance of not getting stuck in the minutia of religious law; on the other, he makes clear that we cannot dismiss the rules entirely. Jesus’s message of grace, forgiveness, and welcome should not be mistaken for moral laxity, as if God’s unconditional love means that our behavior doesn’t matter. Instead, the law of Love holds us to a higher standard than ever. This code prescribes not only right action, but right relationships.

For too long, Biblical commands about sexual activity have been reduced to legalistic rules, used to cut sharp lines between that which is allowed and that which is forbidden. During my upbringing in the ‘purity culture’ of the 90s and early 2000s, I was taught that sexual expression belonged inside of heterosexual marriage, and any sexual expression outside of that context was wrong. With homosexuality scapegoated as the ultimate sexual sin, a multitude of evils was tolerated. 

Today, when I read the revelations of the Epstein files, I think about how much of that reprehensible behavior technically falls within the “letter of the law” according to Levitical commandments. After all, sacred scripture contains no explicit prohibition of sex between adults and pubescent youth, which was normative at the time. It provides some regulations of sexual regulation with slaves, but takes for granted a system in which powerful men will have access to young women they buy and sell. All of this is technically allowable, according to the letter of ancient religious law. And yet, our instinctive revulsion indicates how deeply these practices violate God’s desire.

As we take stock of the sexual depravity at the highest levels of our society, it’s time to reexamine how we understand God’s commands about sexual behavior. The “letter of the law” approach has failed to cultivate a deeper understanding of relationality, power dynamics, consent, boundaries, and the host of other factors that should be included in the church’s sexual ethics. How can we tap into these factors which reflect the spirit of the law?

LGBTQ+ people of faith have a unique perspective to contribute to this conversation, born of decades of wrestling with scriptural prohibitions to try to understand their greater meaning. Our faithful witness shows that through relationship with God and membership in Christian community, the Holy Spirit forms our consciences. And the formed and informed conscience, in turn, instructs us in how to fulfill the spirit of God’s laws.

This Sunday’s gospel reading calls us to ponder morality more deeply. After decades of clerical sex abuse revelations, #MeToo, and the Epstein files, it is time to look more closely at what scripture teaches about sexuality. We must re-read those passages we have avoided due to homophobic translations, like 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10. After years of using these passages to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, the Church now has the opportunity to reinterpret them in light of contemporary scholarship, and embrace them as the injunctions against pedophilia and sexual abuse that they truly are. 

True moral discernment requires much more than toeing the line set by millenia-old rules. It requires forming our consciences, studying the scriptures, discerning with others, and purifying our hearts. As we endeavor to do so, we join the psalmist in praying:

Instruct me, O God, in the way of Your statutes,

that I may exactly observe them.

Give me discernment, that I may observe Your Law 

and keep it with all my heart. (Psalm 119, Inclusive Lectionary)

—Ariell Watson Simon, New Ways Ministry, February 15, 2026

Your Lenten Journey Can Begin With LGBTQ+ Scripture Reflections–Including Your Own

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, coming up this week.  During this season of preparation for Easter, many people often spend more time in prayer, meditation, and reflection.

New Ways Ministry’s website offers two resources to aid Catholic LGBTQ+ people and allies during this time of reflection, and we encourage Bondings 2.0’s readers to take a look at them for their individual prayer times or for parish faith sharing groups:

“Journeys: A Scripture Reflection Series for LGBTQ+ People and Allies”

“The Word Goes Out: LGBTQ+ Scripture Reflections for the Liturgical Year”

The segments for both of these resources are free and can be downloaded from the website.

To find out more about the Lenten installments of both resources, click here.