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JESUS ON PEDOPHILIAYesterday’s Gospel reading for Daily Mass was Matthew 18:1-5 & 10 where Jesus speaks of the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven being those who humble themselves like a little child. Noticeably skipped were verses 6 through 9 which repeat what Jesus said in Matthew 5:29-30 right after He had declared that those who look at a woman lustfully have already committed adultery. Here are those words:“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”It is obvious in chapter 5 why Jesus is saying this: it is better to lose parts of your body than to dwell on lust for a woman.But why does He expand on the same thing in chapter 18 between exhorting His listeners to humble themselves like a child (verses 1-4) and admonishing them to never despise one of these little ones since their angels in Heaven always behold God’s face (verse 10)? Here is the text missing from the Daily Mass reading:“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.”I think Jesus is talking about pedophilia here in Matthew chapter 18 just as He was talking about sexual self-gratification in Matthew chapter 5. By the way, that is exactly what adultery is – gratifying your own passion regardless of the impact your behavior has on the woman with whom you’re having sexual intercourse, your own wife, or your own children. Adultery and pedophilia are about getting high sexually. My AA sponsor of 30 years ago explained to me that that was what my sexual misbehavior as a fornicating submarine sailor was all about – just another way to get high instead of dealing with life, being responsible, and respecting women as human beings made in God’s very image and likeness.But I digress. Note that Jesus uses the same phrases for both treatment of women and treatment children: “It is better to pluck your eye out….it is better to cut your hand or foot off…” Again, as my AA sponsor would say, “A woman is not a slab of meat to get you sexually high.” Yet sadly we have those who treat children in that way both in ancient Greece and Rome where child servants were often kept as sexual slaves, and today in our post-modern, neo pagan society. I am sure that Jesus was aware of Emperor Tiberius’ “boys as sex toys” on the Island of Capri, and that is no different than our own late Jeff Epstein’s doings on the Island of Little St. James with Democrat politicians and software magnates like Bill Gates.So, why are things like this NOT preached from the pulpit? Why do both Catholic priests and Protestant ministers shy away from the obvious and inevitable reference that Jesus is clearly making against using women and children for sexual self-gratification? The Gospel isn’t the story of Jesus your buddy. The Gospel is God’s call to repentance and conversion so that we can accept His forgiveness and enter into eternal life. The Gospel is NOT less rigorous than the Law of Moses; it is MORE rigorous. Gone are the ceremonial laws on diet and animal sacrifice; but front and center are the moral commands to love God with all one’s heart (Deuteronomy 6:5) and one’s neighbor as oneself (Leviticus 19:18).I encourage the reader to read all of Matthew 18:1-10 IN CONTEXT. Jesus Parable of the Lost Sheet does not begin until the next verse. Indeed, the other day I was discussing this very subject of reading Scripture in context with my elder brother Henry who explained that he tries to make it a practice to read the entire chapter of the Bible from which a small selection of verses is being taken for the Sunday sermon. I enjoin anyone reading Sacred Scripture to do the same to see exactly what is being said. Cherry picking selected catch phrases almost always leads to heresy.