Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Israel Facing Life and Death: The Two Ways
-------------------------------------------
[15] "See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. [16] If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live arid multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it. [17] But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, [18] I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. [19] I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, [20] loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of' days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."
***********************************************************************
Commentary: >
30:15-20. The last verses of the discourse addresses a touching and solemn appeal to Israel, spelling out what its responsibilities are: it is completely free to choose between good and evil; but depending on whether it is faithful or unfaithful, it will he blessed or punished by the Lord.
The concluding exhortation (vv. 19-20) is particularly moving: "choose life", loving the Lord, for "that means life". In the New Testament we find passages which echo the same ideas: "I am the life," our Lord will say (Jn 14:6); and St Paul: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20); "for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil 1:21).
Cf. RSV footnote to v. 36: this follows the (fuller) Septuagint Greek (as do the New Vulgate and the Spanish). The words "if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God" do help to stress the contrast with what it says in v. 17.