In today's Gospel, Jesus is essentially talking about preservation; first of life, then of relationships and he dis-cusses the preservation of our integrity (the importance of oath-taking).

The Jewish culture placed a lot of emphasis on taking oaths as a way of entering into a covenant or a relationship with another. The Old Testament was filled with instruc-tions about vows and oaths.

The word for oath means to promise or to state an important truth. In the absence of other legal resources, the taking of an oath has an implied contract - a commit-ment to the other party. It means that a person speaks with one's truth and that what he/she says has such implications on how he/she lives out the agreement.

We have oaths in our culture; Court Presidents take an oath upon receiving office, witnesses take oaths before testifying in court, couples take oaths with their marriage vows. All of this oath-taking implies a commitment to truth-telling. And the intention for behaviour is to follow the words that are spoken. We may not be in court or at the marriage altar, but we are speaking vows and oaths daily, and Jesus is challenging us on our integrity.

What kinds of oaths have I taken? In what ways do I live out those oaths with integrity? My relationship with God? My relationship with others?