Gospel (Mt 5,27-32) - At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: «You have heard that it was said: Do not commit adultery; but I say to you: whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in her heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away from you: it is better for one of your members to perish than for your whole body to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you: it is better for one of your members to perish than for your whole body to end up in Gehenna. »It was also said: Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce; but I say to you: whoever divorces her wife, except in the case of concubinage, exposes her to adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus enunciates the sixth commandment: "Do not commit adultery". It was a provision that committed both husband and wife not to cheat and therefore keep the marital bond intact. Jesus does not abolish this commandment, but he knows well that external observance alone is not sufficient to guarantee the integrity of marriage. There is a need for the heart, that is, a deep internal involvement with others to build a solid and stable family. Love - which is the commitment to bond with others - must not be left at the mercy of one's fleeting or self-centered feelings. In the case of marriage, then, but not only, love means choosing to live together for life. This love is presented at the culmination of creation, when God said, after creating Adam: "It is not good for man to be alone!". It is the affirmation of the primacy of communion over solitude. It is good that the whole world is built as a single family, from the domestic one to that of the people. The love that Jesus asks for is the decision to commit to building a world with the traits of God's own love. It is a lofty choice that contrasts irremediably with the instinct to satisfy one's individual feelings at any cost. For this reason, Jesus does not hesitate to affirm: "If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it away: it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than being thrown into Gehenna with two eyes." And the same goes for the hand. Every surrender to selfishness undermines love. There is a seriousness in following the Gospel and one cannot be a stumbling block (this means “scandal”) for the brothers with one's self-centered behavior. It is better to lose an eye or a hand if they are the occasion of scandal. Jesus, with these hyperboles, intends to refer to the cutting of one's instincts whose roots are in the heart.