“Whoever says to a brother, ‘Raqa’ shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin.” Our gospel passage from Matthew uses a Hebrew/Greek word transliterated into English, meaning: “useless, empty or of no value.” Within the Jewish culture at the time of Jesus the strong connotation of “Raqa” constituted a serious offense. A brief story from the Talmud illustrates the nature of the seriousness of “raqa.” [20a] "Our Rabbis have taught: A man should always be gentle as the reed and never unyielding as the cedar. Once R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon was coming from Migdal Gedor, from the house of his teacher, and he was riding leisurely on his ass by the riverside and was feeling happy and elated because he had studied much Torah [20b]. There chanced to meet him an exceedingly ugly man who greeted him, `Peace be upon you, Sir.' He, however, did not return his salutation but instead said to him, `RAQA (you useless and empty thing), how ugly you are. Are all your fellow citizens as ugly as you are?' The man replied: `I do not know, but go and tell the craftsman who made me, ‘How ugly is the vessel which you have made.’ When R. Eleazar realized that he had done wrong he dismounted from the donkey and prostrated himself before the man and said to him, `I submit myself to you, forgive me.' The man replied: `I will not forgive you until you go to the craftsman who made me and say to him, `How ugly is the vessel which you have made".' (The Real Yeshua Blog) Blatantly used to dehumanize another, the word is offensive to the sanctity of God, as much so as the breaking of the second Commandment. Clearly, the mean-spirited use of “Raqa” not only offends the person but essentially our Creator: “all people are made in the image of the Creator.” Of course, we insinuate or outright demean another because of various reasons: political differences, cultural or ethnic differences, because of hurt or fear, resentment or hatred. As the Hebrew Talmud establishes, there can be no such slander applied to another human being under any condition because all people are made in the image of the Creator. Martin Luther King Jr. and Pope Francis provide a ‘two-sided’ reflection of this image we each are Created into from the moment of our conception to our natural death. “The whole concept of the “image of God ” is the idea that all men have something within them that God injected. .. . And this gives [man] a uniqueness, it gives him worth, it gives him dignity. And we must never forget this. . . there are no gradations in the image of God. Every man from a treble white to a bass black is significant on God’s keyboard., precisely because every man is made in the image of God. One day we will learn that. We will know one day that God made us to live together as brothers and sisters, and to respect the dignity and worth of every person.” . . “Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God's creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.” Following is a prayer written by Cardinal John Henry Newman and prayed by Mother Teresa in her daily devotions. Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with Your Spirit and Life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through us and be so in us that every soul we come in contact with may feel Your presence in our souls. Let them look up, and see no longer us, but only Jesus! Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be ours. It will be You, shining on others through us. Let us thus praise You in the way You love best, by shining on those around us. Let us preach You without preaching, not by words but by example. Amen. FYI: As the primary source of Jewish religious law, the Talmud serves as the guide for the daily life of Jews, a source of inspiration for living within the virtue of God’s commandments, and the resource influencing the ambitions of the faithful. God Bless, Fr. Tim "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire." (The Talmud)