Law and Discernment

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to ponder if the approach we take to Laws and Commandments are blindly observant or overly self satisfying.

Law and Love

The Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy proclaims Advantages of Fidelity.

* [4:10] Fear: not in the sense of “be terrified,” but rather “manifest reverence or awe.” (Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 147 praises the holy city to recognize it has been re-created and made the place of disclosure for God’s word, a word as life-giving as water.

* [Psalm 147] The hymn is divided into three sections by the calls to praise in Ps 147:1, 7, 12. The first section praises the powerful creator who restores exiled Judah (Ps 147:1–6); the second section, the creator who provides food to animals and human beings; the third and climactic section exhorts the holy city to recognize it has been re-created and made the place of disclosure for God’s word, a word as life-giving as water. (Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus presents Teaching About the Law.

* [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.

* [5:19] Probably these commandments means those of the Mosaic law. But this is an interim ethic “until heaven and earth pass away.” (Matthew, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)

Larry Hopp urges us to spend time drawing closer to Him and His Word – which is the profound answer to our world’s troubles.

Dear Heavenly Father, we all seek your blessings and guidance.  Your absolute truth provides all that we need to follow you and to experience your incredible blessings.  Help us to overcome whatever might stand in the way of our growing closer to you and faithfully following all that you have taught us.  In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen (Hopp, n.d.)

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.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes that in Deuteronomy Moses calls upon the people to follow the laws and avoid errors in understanding to placate the gods of the ancient world. If you broke the rules in ignorance, you were guilty. God told Israel exactly what was required of them. Matthew who was writing for Jewish Christians shows Jesus did not tell people to reject the Law but to fulfill it. In contrast, the teaching of Paul that we really don’t have to follow the law when we are acting with love was the influence in the majority of the Church of mostly Gentile Christians. Friar Jude notes that the Gentile Christians accepted Pau’s words rather than Matthew’s instruction. 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9 asks who hasn’t struggled to keep the commandments? Who hasn’t bristled at their restrictions when we find it difficult to obey them, and even begin to resent the God who gave them to us?

God’s commands are a blessing and a protection for us—they guide us and help us to stay close to him. As the psalmist prayed, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). So set your heart on obeying the Lord’s commands today. He will give you strength and grace to abide by them. And when you do fall short, he will mercifully forgive you. What a great God we have!

“Father, thank you for the wisdom of your law.” (Meditation on Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9, n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Father Greg Boyle who considers how many of the evils we witness today reflect the consequences of our painful disconnection from the God of love. He endlessly tells gang members that the God of love doesn’t see sin. Our God sees son (and daughter). “I believe that sin has no substance,” Julian of Norwich writes, “not a particle of being.” Then she says, “With all due respect to Mother Church … but this does not line up.” She couldn’t get sin to align with her God of love.

Boyle suggests a shift in emphasis when it comes to behavior:

The moral quest has never kept us moral; it’s just kept us from each other. So maybe we should abandon the moral quest, since it’s an Old World map, and embrace instead the journey to wholeness, flourishing love, and defiant joy. We don’t want to end up in Mesopotamia. Yes, we want to do the next right thing, but what is the next right thing and who is able to choose it? Only the healthy person can. So we help each other, not to make better choices but to walk home to well-being and deeper growth in love. (Rohr, n.d.)

We implore the Spirit to guide our understanding and observance of the Law in the light of the Law of Love as lived by Jesus.

References

Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 11, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/4?1 

Hopp, L. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. On line Ministries. Retrieved March 11, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-march-11-2026 

Matthew, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 11, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5?17 

Meditation on Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved March 11, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/03/10/1515595/ 

Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 11, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/147?12 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Healing Acts of Connection. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 11, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/healing-acts-of-connection/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Whoever Relaxes One of the Commandments. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 11, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Rich in Love and Ritual

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today exhort us to live in obedience to the commandments in our spiritual tradition as we reflect on the challenges for Mary as the Mother of God.

St Mary's Basilica 

The Reading from the First Letter of John proclaims The New Commandment.*

* [2:3–6] The way we may be sure: to those who claim, “I have known Christ and therefore I know him,” our author insists on not mere intellectual knowledge but obedience to God’s commandments in a life conformed to the example of Christ; this confirms our knowledge of him and is the love of God…perfected. Disparity between moral life and the commandments proves improper belief.

* [2:7–11] The author expresses the continuity and freshness of mutual charity in Christian experience. Through Christ the commandment of love has become the light defeating the darkness of evil in a new age. All hatred as darkness is incompatible with the light and Christian life. Note also the characteristic Johannine polemic in which a positive assertion is emphasized by the negative statement of its opposite.

* [2:8] Which holds true in him and among you: literally, “a thing that holds true in him and in you.” (1 John, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 96 invites all humanity to praise the glories of Israel’s God

* [Psalm 96] A hymn inviting all humanity to praise the glories of Israel’s God (Ps 96:1–3), who is the sole God (Ps 96:4–6). To the just ruler of all belongs worship (Ps 96:7–10); even inanimate creation is to offer praise (Ps 96:11–13). This Psalm has numerous verbal and thematic contacts with Is 40–55, as does Ps 98. Another version of the Psalm is 1 Chr 16:23–33. (Psalms, PSALM 96 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke proclaims The Presentation in the Temple.

* [2:22–40] The presentation of Jesus in the temple depicts the parents of Jesus as devout Jews, faithful observers of the law of the Lord (Lk 2:23–24, 39), i.e., the law of Moses. In this respect, they are described in a fashion similar to the parents of John (Lk 1:6) and Simeon (Lk 2:25) and Anna (Lk 2:36–37).

* [2:22] Their purification: syntactically, their must refer to Mary and Joseph, even though the Mosaic law never mentions the purification of the husband. Recognizing the problem, some Western scribes have altered the text to read “his purification,” understanding the presentation of Jesus in the temple as a form of purification; the Vulgate version has a Latin form that could be either “his” or “her.” According to the Mosaic law (Lv 12:2–8), the woman who gives birth to a boy is unable for forty days to touch anything sacred or to enter the temple area by reason of her legal impurity. At the end of this period she is required to offer a year-old lamb as a burnt offering and a turtledove or young pigeon as an expiation of sin. The woman who could not afford a lamb offered instead two turtledoves or two young pigeons, as Mary does here. They took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord: as the firstborn son (Lk 2:7) Jesus was consecrated to the Lord as the law required (Ex 13:2, 12), but there was no requirement that this be done at the temple. The concept of a presentation at the temple is probably derived from 1 Sm 1:24–28, where Hannah offers the child Samuel for sanctuary services. The law further stipulated (Nm 3:47–48) that the firstborn son should be redeemed by the parents through their payment of five shekels to a member of a priestly family. About this legal requirement Luke is silent.

* [2:25] Awaiting the consolation of Israel: Simeon here and later Anna who speak about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem represent the hopes and expectations of faithful and devout Jews who at this time were looking forward to the restoration of God’s rule in Israel. The birth of Jesus brings these hopes to fulfillment.

* [2:35] (And you yourself a sword will pierce): Mary herself will not be untouched by the various reactions to the role of Jesus (Lk 2:34). Her blessedness as mother of the Lord will be challenged by her son who describes true blessedness as “hearing the word of God and observing it” (Lk 11:27–28 and Lk 8:20–21). (Luke, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Jim Caime, SJ, comments that these Christmas season readings move us from the Christmas of our childhood to the Christmas of adulthood. They place Bethlehem in honest relationship with the cross. Christmas is intimately connected to the passion, death, and resurrection—the Paschal Mystery. Each sheds light on the other. Each reveals the utter, unconditional love of God: a Love that sets us free, breaks our chains, and costs Jesus everything. And all of it is a gift.

For Prayer and Reflection:

How is Christ inviting me to grow from the Christmas of childhood wonder into a deeper, more courageous adult faith?

Where do I sense Love bringing something in my life into the light—not to judge me, but to set me free?

What might it look like for me to say “yes” to a love that costs something and transforms me in the process? (Caime, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Simeon and Anna represent both sexes awaiting their Redeemer,” by Bede the Venerable, 672-735 A.D.

"Simeon and Anna, a man and a woman of advanced age, greeted the Lord with the devoted services of their professions of faith. As they saw him, he was small in body, but they understood him to be great in his divinity. Figuratively speaking, this denotes the synagogue, the Jewish people, who, wearied by the long awaiting of his incarnation, were ready with both their arms (their pious actions) and their voices (their unfeigned faith) to exalt and magnify him as soon as he came. They were ready to acclaim him and say, 'Direct me in your truth and teach me, for you are my saving God, and for you I have waited all the day' (Psalm 25:5). What needs to be mentioned, too, is that deservedly both sexes hurried to meet him, offering congratulations, since he appeared as the Redeemer of both." (excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 1.18) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 2:22-35 comments that this isn’t the first time we see the Spirit at work in the story of Christmas. Something similar took place at the Annunciation, when the Spirit overshadowed Mary (Luke 1:35), and again at the Visitation, when the Spirit caused John the Baptist to leap in Elizabeth’s womb, and Elizabeth cried out, “Most blessed are you among women” (Luke 1:41, 42).

It’s one thing to recall and cherish the stories surrounding the birth of the Lord. Of course, we should do that—they’re a vital part of salvation history! But it’s another thing to find our own stories in the midst of this vast and glorious history. It’s another thing to discover the ways that this history has transformed your life—and can continue to do so.

It’s true: you are a coheir with Jesus of all the promises of God (Romans 8:17). So ask the Spirit to help you take hold of your heavenly inheritance!

“Come, Holy Spirit, and fill my heart just as you did for Simeon!” (Meditation on Luke 2:22-35, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments  that 1 John is a very dualistic writing contrasting light and dark goodness and sin with emphasis on keeping the commandments. The author of Gospel and Letters of John are perhaps different since, in the Gospel of John, there is only one command to believe in the only Son of God. This community is dealing with Docetism, an ancient heresy that says Jesus was not fully human and was never Incarnate. The author of 1 John asserts that if you belong to God you live God’s commandments. In the Gospel of Luke, the family goes to the Temple for two rituals of purification; for Mary because of blood shed in childbirth; for Jesus is for redemption, the first born belonged to God and was bought back with a sacrifice, for poor couples of turtledoves. In the old Ritual of Baptism, the baby was held by the Godmother who was not ritually impure. The ritual for Jesus is redemption because the first born belonged to God and was bought back with a sacrifice. The Canticle of Simeon, likely a pre-existing hymn borrowed by Luke, perhaps from a funeral liturgy, speaks to Mary about contradiction and the sword piercing her heart. The heart, in ancient times, was associated with thinking and the Word of God would pierce her thoughts. Her struggle with birthing the Son of God is in conflict with Jewish understanding of One God, Yahweh. Friar Jude comments that she believes and shows up in the Upper Room, according to Luke. Mary is therefore understanding of confusion in faith when we turn to her.

Fr. Mike Schmitz draws a parallel between the symbols in the book of Revelation and the persecution by the Roman empire of the first Christians and encourages us to hold firm in our faith. Additionally, Fr. Mike reveals the beauty of the new covenant priesthood established by Jesus and explained in Hebrews. Today’s readings are Revelation 15-17, Hebrews 5-8, and Proverbs 31:23-25.

CAC faculty member James Finley poetically envisions how Jesus is the light of the world. Sometimes we can get disheartened about ourselves, like Paul’s thorn in the flesh. While we need to do our best to get past the things that are hurtful to myself and others, can I place my faith in the love that’s infinitely in love with me and my inability to get past the stumbling place? As a matter of fact, the thorn in the flesh, the stumbling place, may be my teacher where I depend on the mercy of God that is oceanic and endless in all directions.

This then is our walk: How can I learn to be healed from what hinders me from being ever more habitually established in the divine light that shines, transcends, and utterly permeates the broken edges of my life? The very ragged edges of my heart are the configurations of the light that shines through the broken places as mercy, as amazement, and as gratitude.

Although I can’t experience it all the time, I know the importance of the daily rendezvous with God, the quiet space in which I become ever more receptively vulnerable to being instilled by this light that permeates and guides me through my days. Hopefully, this poetic expression then will be a way of helping us to sit with and be present to this light, shining into our own lives in the midst of the unresolved matters of our hearts. (Finley, n.d.)

We rely on the Wisdom of the Spirit to guide our journey that requires faith in God’s plan, hope for peace and all good, and love for all of Creation.

References

Caime, J. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved December 29, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-december-29-2025 

Finley, J. (n.d.). Living in the Light of God’s Love. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 29, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/living-in-the-light-of-gods-love/ 

Luke, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 29, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/2?22 

Meditation on Luke 2:22-35. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved December 29, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/12/29/1461581/ 

1 John, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 29, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1john/2?3 

Psalms, PSALM 96 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 29, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/96?1 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Favor of God Was upon Him. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 29, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/