In today’s first reading, Dt. 4: 5-9, Moses is instructing
the people to observe God’s commandments, His statues and decrees “that you may
live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God
of your…[ancestors], is giving you….Observe them carefully, for thus you will
give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations. In today’s
Gospel, Jesus tells us that He has come to fulfill the law, not to destroy
it. Jesus, who carries out the spirit of
the Law, challenges us to more than the externals of the law. Jesus teaches that fulfilling the law means
loving one’s neighbor as oneself, responding to persons “left to die” by the side of our “roads”
even when that means breaking a letter of the law in some way; or choosing to be authentic when others fear disapproval of their “friends”. It
means giving two tunics and turning the cheek when charity invites us to give of
the more, not just what the letter of the law requires. It means withholding “throwing
the first stone” when others are caught in serious sin, though the law has
certainly been violated. If we keep the
commandments, Jesus promises, we will have
life and have it to the full. That is why He has come to this earth. That is
why he will gave His life for our ransom. He wants to enter the Promised Land,
to take full possession of ourselves, to know wisdom and to be intelligent in
how we live our lives.
Do people, we might ask ourselves, perceive us as “wise and intelligent” or do we
simply blend in with the majority of folks who are swept away by the demands of
the world, of secularism, materialism, consumerism, hedonism and all the other
false gods of this world. Are we persons
who simply take the easy way out by following the crowd wherever it goes? “Everyone
is doing it!” “What’s the big deal—no one else observes the commandments.” “Aren’t
those outdated,” we might ask when reminded to refrain from sexual intercourse
outside of marriage, when challenged to be honest in our dealings with others,
when reminded to keep holy the Lord’s day and so on.
How wise and intelligent are we?
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