The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate the impact of Jesus' expression of the Law on our action in relationship with people and Creation.
The reading from the Book of Deuteronomy asserts that Moses commands obedience to the Law and cites the advantages of fidelity.
“Or what great nation has statutes and ordinances that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?” (Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 4, n.d.)
Psalm 147 offers praise for God’s Care for Jerusalem.
* [147:15–19] God speaks through the thunder of nature and the word of revealed law, cf. Is 55:10–11. The weather phenomena are well known in Jerusalem: a blizzard of snow and hail followed by a thunderstorm that melts the ice. (Psalms, PSALM 147, n.d.)
The Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus teaching about the Law and the Prophets.
* [5:17–20] This statement of Jesus’ position concerning the Mosaic law is composed of traditional material from Matthew’s sermon documentation (see note on Mt 5:1–7:29), other Q material (cf. Mt 18; Lk 16:17), and the evangelist’s own editorial touches. To fulfill the law appears at first to mean a literal enforcement of the law in the least detail: until heaven and earth pass away nothing of the law will pass (Mt 5:18). Yet the “passing away” of heaven and earth is not necessarily the end of the world understood, as in much apocalyptic literature, as the dissolution of the existing universe. The “turning of the ages” comes with the apocalyptic event of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and those to whom this gospel is addressed are living in the new and final age, prophesied by Isaiah as the time of “new heavens and a new earth” (Is 65:17; 66:22). Meanwhile, during Jesus’ ministry when the kingdom is already breaking in, his mission remains within the framework of the law, though with significant anticipation of the age to come, as the following antitheses (Mt 5:21–48) show. (Matthew, CHAPTER 5, n.d.)
Mary Lee Brock comments that in the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius invites us to imagine two standards: one of good and the other evil. The standard of Christ focuses on poverty, rejection and humility. The standard of Satan is characterized by riches, honor and pride. While there is not one perfect truth about the best way to live a life oriented to the standard of Christ, there are opportunities all day, every day to do so.
The two standards help me look at my sinfulness in an honest way. I ask God to show me the times in my life when my ego and pride are motivating my choices, and I pray for the strength to reject the prideful stance and truly be of service to others. I thank God for the moments in my life when I have experienced deep humility. I look for ways to be reminded that I have all that I need to serve God, and I ask for help to push away any worries I may have about material possessions.
This Lent I am grateful to know the truth of my sinfulness and the desire for the Standard of Christ to guide my life (Brock, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “Making daily progress towards God,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"As Christians, our task is to make daily progress toward God. Our pilgrimage on earth is a school in which God is the only teacher, and it demands good students, not ones who play truant. In this school we learn something every day. We learn something from the commandments, something from examples, and something from Sacraments. These things are remedies for our wounds and materials for our studies." (excerpt from Sermon 16A,1) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 5:17-19 comments that through his death and resurrection, Jesus has fulfilled not only the Law of Moses but the deepest longings in our hearts. Now we can be in an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father. Now we can receive all the grace we need to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Now we have the Holy Spirit, who convicts us, teaches us, and guides us. And now we have brothers and sisters in Christ who can support us in our walk with the Lord.
Jesus declared what he came to do: to fulfill and accomplish all that was in the Law and the prophets. Then, on the cross, he proclaimed, “It is finished” (John 19:30). He has done exactly what he promised to do!
“I praise you, Jesus, for fulfilling your Father’s intentions for me.” (Meditation on Matthew 5:17-19, n.d.)
Fr Jack Mahoney SJ, Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Theology in London University and a former Principal of Heythrop College, University of London, looks at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel, describing how the structure of the sermon can help us to understand what Jesus wanted to tell his disciples.
Commentators differ on what Jesus’s work of ‘fulfilment,’ or bringing to completion, amounted to, mainly on whether he did this in his teaching or in his life. In fact, it appears to have been in both. The mission of Jesus shows a basic continuity and fulfilment of the history of Israel, such that the death and resurrection of Jesus bring to completion the history and divine destiny of God’s people and fulfil the prophecies foretelling the coming Messiah. Not only does Matthew’s account of the passion and death of Jesus claim prophetic warrant from the Old Testament (‘the Son of Man goes as it is written of him’ [26:24; cf Mk 9:12]); in addition, in the following main section of the sermon he has Jesus pick out salient points of the Law, Old Testament moral teaching and religious practices, and give them a fuller, authoritative interpretation and commentary of his own.
As we have already observed, in the main body of the sermon we can see three sections which spell out the new ‘righteousness’ expected of Christian disciples in their relationship with God: first, an updating of the Ten Commandments in the light of Jesus’s moral teaching, making it quite clear that they were not being dispensed with; then, an exhortation that disciples give a new quality to their regular religious practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, which is superior to that of the Jews; and finally, a stress on the need for total trust in God throughout their life. (Mahoney, 2011)
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the exhortation of Moses to the Israelites to follow the laws and decrees of God rather than choosing the wrong path away from God’s favour. Demographics is important in the contrast between the understanding of following the Law in Matthew, likely edited by a converted Pharisee, which is almost opposite from the sense of following the Law expressed by Paul to the Gentiles. Friar Jude notes the acceptance of Paul’s message by the gentile Christians of the second century.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces CAC friend Mirabai Starr’s translation of a heartfelt prayer from Teresa of Ávila. We witness her concern for the whole world, her desire to speak truth to power, and her willingness to risk everything in order to be of service.
O my God! Please help world leaders understand the magnitude of their responsibilities….
I sincerely pray for our leaders, and I would like to be of some help to them. Such an urge makes a soul reckless. I would gladly risk my life to gain what I believe in….
Once a soul has attained this level of prayer, she does not merely desire to serve God; his Majesty [a name Teresa uses for God] gives her the strength to manifest the desire. The soul would not hesitate to try anything that might be of service to him. Any sacrifice for his sake feels like nothing, because she knows that anything other than pleasing him means nothing….
Here is my life. Here is my honor. Here is my will. I give them all to you. I am yours. Use me as you will….
The soul is his soul. He is in charge. He illuminates her. It seems that he is guarding her against offending him. He helps her to wake up in service of him….
As long as she receives God’s favors with humility and gratitude, always bearing in mind that the Beloved gives them and that she herself does almost nothing, she will retain her equanimity. (Rohr, 2023)
We have the Holy Spirit as our guide to the implementation of Jesus' Way in the encounters we have with people on our journey.
References
Brock, M. L. (2023, March 15). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/031523.html
Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 4. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/4?1
Mahoney, J. (2011, July 13). The Shape of the Sermon on the Mount. Thinking Faith. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20110713_1.htm
Matthew, CHAPTER 5. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5?17
Meditation on Matthew 5:17-19. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/03/15/631611/
Psalms, PSALM 147. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/147?12
Rohr, R. (2023, March 15). A Heartfelt and Humble Prayer — Center for Action and Contemplation. Richard Rohr. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-heartfelt-and-humble-prayer-2023-03-15/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Whoever Relaxes One of the Commandments. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=mar15
No comments:
Post a Comment