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/ 

Healing Surrender

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to consider what aspects of our life we need to surrender to experience the healing hand of God.

Guiding Our Way

The Reading from the First Book of Samuel proclaims the situation prior to the Loss of the Ark.

* [4:1–7:1] The Ark Narrative: A striking indication that this is an independent narrative is the absence of any mention of Samuel. The Philistines: one of the Sea Peoples, of Aegean origin, who occupied the coastal plain of Palestine and threatened the Israelites who settled the inland hills.

* [4:4] Enthroned upon the cherubim: this divine title first occurs in the Old Testament at the sanctuary at Shiloh (cf. 2 Sm 6:2); God is represented seated upon a throne borne through the heavens by cherubim, creatures partly human being, partly beast (cf. Ez 1 and 10).

* [4:8] These mighty gods: the Philistines, who were polytheists, presume that the Israelites also honored several gods.

* [4:10] To their own tents: the defeat is so catastrophic that the soldiers abandon the army for home; cf. 2 Sm 18:17. (1 Samuel, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 44 addresses the struggle with being God’s special people amid divine silence.

* [Psalm 44] In this lament the community reminds God of past favors which it has always acknowledged (Ps 44:2–9). But now God has abandoned Israel to defeat and humiliation (Ps 44:10–17), though the people are not conscious of any sin against the covenant (Ps 44:18–23). They struggle with being God’s special people amid divine silence; yet they continue to pray (Ps 44:24–26). (Psalms, PSALM 44 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Mark presents the Cleansing of a Leper by Jesus.

* [1:21–45] The account of a single day’s ministry of Jesus on a sabbath in and outside the synagogue of Capernaum (Mk 1:21–31) combines teaching and miracles of exorcism and healing. Mention is not made of the content of the teaching but of the effect of astonishment and alarm on the people. Jesus’ teaching with authority, making an absolute claim on the hearer, was in the best tradition of the ancient prophets, not of the scribes. The narrative continues with events that evening (Mk 1:32–34; see notes on Mt 8:14–17) and the next day (Mk 1:35–39). The cleansing in Mk 1:40–45 stands as an isolated story.

* [1:40] A leper: for the various forms of skin disease, see Lv 13:1–50 and the note on Lv 13:2–4. There are only two instances in the Old Testament in which God is shown to have cured a leper (Nm 12:10–15; 2 Kgs 5:1–14). The law of Moses provided for the ritual purification of a leper. In curing the leper, Jesus assumes that the priests will reinstate the cured man into the religious community. See also note on Lk 5:14. (Mark, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Michele Bogard shares favorite carol is. “O Holy Night”. And the lyric “He appeared and the soul felt its worth” has always struck her as this truly awesome moment when an individual finally realizes that they are made in the image and likeness of God with inherent dignity. She notes that in Greg Boyle, SJ’s Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, he shares:

“Mother Teresa diagnoses the world’s ills in this way: we’ve just forgotten that we belong to each other’. Kinship is what happens to us when we refuse to let that happen. With kinship as the goal, other essential things fall into place; without it, no justice, no peace. I suspect that were kinship our goal, we would no longer be promoting justice – we would be celebrating it” (p.187).

God sent Jesus to bear the burden of humanity to show us the way. He humbled himself to eliminate margins, barriers and helped widen our concept of compassion. (Bogard, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “Why did Jesus touch the leper,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).

And why did [Jesus] touch him, since the law forbade the touching of a leper? He touched him to show that 'all things are clean to the clean' (Titus 1:15). Because the filth that is in one person does not adhere to others, nor does external uncleanness defile the clean of heart. So he touches him in his untouchability, that he might instruct us in humility; that he might teach us that we should despise no one, or abhor them, or regard them as pitiable, because of some wound of their body or some blemish for which they might be called to render an account... So, stretching forth his hand to touch, the leprosy immediately departs. The hand of the Lord is found to have touched not a leper, but a body made clean! Let us consider here, beloved, if there be anyone here that has the taint of leprosy in his soul, or the contamination of guilt in his heart? If he has, instantly adoring God, let him say: 'Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.' (excerpt from FRAGMENTS ON MATTHEW 2.2-3) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 Samuel 4:1-11 comments that it can be easy to act like these Israelites. Something bad happens, and we react without taking the time to seek God’s wisdom and guidance or his comfort. Or we formulate a plan to tackle a challenging situation and dive right in, hoping God will be with us.

But the Lord is never absent! He wants to be a part of our lives. He is always with us, always ready to teach us and guide us. His arms are always open wide to us when we are hurting—even when he seems distant. And even if we have caused our own hurt by our lack of faithfulness to him, he is always eager to help us return to him and to comfort us. This is the long lesson that the Israelites learned over many years, and it’s the lesson that God wants to teach us as well. Remember that years after this event, he raised up David, who recaptured the ark, routed the Philistines, and gathered the scattered tribes of Israel into one kingdom. The Lord never gave up on his people, and he won’t give up on you.

So always remember that you have a Father who is ready to help when you call on him. You never have to face any situation alone!

“Lord, thank you for always being with me!” (Meditation on 1 Samuel 4:1-11, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that in 1 Samuel the Philistines defeat the 12 tribes loosely joined and not very united. The Philistines, likely refugees from Greece, who knew how to smelt iron, technology unknown in Israel, were formidable enemies. The tribes of Israel believed that with the Ark they could not lose. This was not a spiritual act of surrender to the will of God. We are told that the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, accompanied the ark of God were terrible men in the Temple and became symbols of faithlessness. Jesus acts to exorcise evil and heals a leper, who was considered unclean. By treating him with dignity and kindness Jesus makes him clean. Jesus has to go to a deserted place for some peace. We too need to stand back for time of peace, The Sabbath is the time of peace and rest in the Lord and each other's presence.

Father Richard Rohr describes why the book of Genesis was so important to the people of ancient Israel. The religious questions they were wrestling with are questions that thoughtful people ask in every age: What is the meaning of life? Where does it come from? Where does it go? What is the relationship between God and humanity? Why is there evil in the world? Why do good people have to suffer? These questions were especially disturbing for the Jews after their return from exile. They thought they had known who they were and what God’s purpose was for them, but the shattering of their dreams forced them to think again and to think more deeply.

Perhaps the most important thing to bear in mind when reading the first eleven chapters of Genesis is that it is written not only about the past but about the present— the perennial present that is always with us. The authors of Genesis wrote down the Word that came to them in their time, but in doing so they were putting into human words the eternal Word which speaks the truth for every generation. They were writing what is always true about God and human beings, about the goodness of the world, and about “sin” which causes suffering.

Put in theological terminology, the story is saying that everything is grace, everything is gift, everything comes from God. God is the one who makes something out of nothing and gives it to us, not only then, but now. God created both the natural universe and our own human nature, and all of it is good. All of it is to be enjoyed, if we can receive it as a gift. (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the Spirit to empower us through our Baptismal anointing, as priest, prophet, and leader, to pray and act on our insight as an agent of healing in Jesus Name.

References

Bogard, M. (2026, January 15). Daily Reflection January 15, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved January 15, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-january-15-2026 

Mark, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 15, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/1?40 

Meditation on 1 Samuel 4:1-11. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved January 15, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/01/15/1480479/ 

1 Samuel, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 15, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1samuel/4?1 

Psalms, PSALM 44 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 15, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/44?10 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Inviting Good Questions. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 15, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/inviting-good-questions/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Lord Jesus Can Make Me Clean. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 15, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/