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To Keep or To Abolish…

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Matthew 5:17-19

Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, as I journey through Lent I have a great desire to be close to you. I know that I am your creature and that I owe you all glory and homage. I want to glorify you by following your teaching. I need you to help me see clearly the truth of your teaching and to love you in return. Here I am Lord, hungry for you alone. I know that you will not turn me away empty-handed.

Petition: Lord, teach me what it means to fulfill the law.

1. The Spirit Fulfills the Mere Letter: We can speak of fulfilling the law in two ways: by doing everything that is asked or by completing that which is missing. Jesus completes the law of the Old Testament with the new law of love – to love one another as he has loved us. Jesus fulfills the law not by simply fulfilling each of the many precepts, but by showing where all of the precepts have their end: in loving God above all things. When we obey the law of love we are fulfilling all of the laws – we are bringing them to their natural end.

2. The All-Encompassing New Law: The law of love reaches to the ends of the earth. There is no created being in the universe that is outside the law of love that Jesus has come to teach us. There is no being, not even the smallest, that escapes the demand of this law. When Jesus uses the metaphor, “the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter,” he is showing us the completeness of this law. Love and its demands reach to the farthest ends of the universe, to the smallest created being, and to the end of time. Am I convinced in my heart and in my actions that the law of love asks me to love all people – not just my family, friends and those who rub me the right way?

3. Seeking Perfection: The commandments of the old law as exemplified in the Ten Commandments (e.g. Thou shall not kill; Thou shall not commit adultery; etc.) are grave transgressions but easy to define, referring as they do to external actions. Christ’s commandments (e.g. to not show anger; to not lust in the heart; to forgive our enemies; etc.) have more subtle expressions, and because of this often times they are more difficult to obey. Living these commandments with the proper motivation and a considerate, dedicated attitude is what makes a person great. Having love as the motivation of all of our actions not only helps us make it to heaven, but also will win us a greater share in God’s happiness and glory there.

Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for this time of prayer. Do not let me be content simply to do the minimum that my faith asks of me. Do not let me be content simply with avoiding grave sin. Help me to live the fullness of the law of charity. I want this Lent to be a time of growth in love.

Resolution: When I am obeying the laws of the Church I will stop to reflect how they fit into the greater law of love.

Homily of the Day

March 26, 2014

Sometimes we consider the Law as something that imposes on us, that limits us. Thus the Law becomes something constricting and undesirable. But Moses tells us in today’s first reading that if we observe the Law that God had enjoined us to follow, we are to have life and take possession of the land. Then the Law does not put a heavy burden on our shoulders. On the contrary, it frees us, for it teaches us how to have life. And what is this land that we are to possess? This land is the kingdom of God; and we are in the kingdom if we possess Christ.

Even before Christ came as man, the Law had the purpose of carrying out the divine plan for humanity. And then Christ came – to complete the Law, bringing it to perfection. It is basically still the same Law but brought to a higher realm. We will understand this with greater clarity when we read the rest of this chapter of Matthew, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount. For instance, Jesus gives us the same Law of love but introduces to us the love for the enemy. Aside from this, he imparts to us the Law with the accompanying grace to fulfill it. Therefore, let us not be afraid if Christ gives us the Law, which, seemingly, is impossible to fulfill for he grants us his Spirit. And if we possess his Spirit, the law can be accomplished in our lives.

We Christians are blessed to be given the new Law by Christ. As Ps 147 says, “He reveals his word to Jacob, his statutes and rulings to Israel.” He did not reveal them to others but to us, the new Israel, his chosen ones. When we discover the sweetness of the Law and consider it a delight, then we will understand why we are blessed to possess it. Many times, however, it still seems like a burden to us, something too demanding considering our weakness.

Let us not be disheartened whenever we fail to keep the law, for as St. Paul says in the letter to the Romans, “However great the number of sins committed, grace was even greater.” We can count on Christ’s infinite mercy which is accompanied by his grace. That is why, for Christ, the Law is not one of moralizing but of giving freedom.