Wednesday - March 15, 2023
TODAY'S READINGS
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 239
Reading I
Moses spoke to the people and said:
"Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.'
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
"However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children's children."
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Verse Before the Gospel
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
Gospel
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."
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Holiness through the law is not legalism
Jesus came to “fulfill” the law, which he did throughout his life by representing the deepest meanings of the law. He pointed people to the root purpose and highest goal of each law — which is love — by word and by the way he treated each person.
This was a challenge to the Jewish leaders, who tended to be literalistic or legalistic when interpreting God’s laws, and it caused some confusion. So, Jesus clarified his meaning in today’s Gospel passage. In effect he said, “The interpretation that I give to the law does not mean that the laws are invalid. Rather, it shows that you are not fulfilling the law until all things have taken place, i.e., until your obedience is motivated by love for God and love for neighbor” (see Matthew 22:35-40).
When Jesus spoke of heaven and earth passing away, he was not referring to a literal end of the universe. Educated Jewish listeners knew he was referring to the well-known prophecy in Isaiah 65:17 in which God promised to create a new heaven and a new earth by providing a Messiah. They didn’t realize it yet, but the old heaven and earth were about to pass away in the death of Jesus. And before that could happen, the true meaning of each and every law had to be fulfilled by someone who could do it right. Jesus succeeded in true obedience where everyone else had failed.
Obeying all the commandments — truly obeying them — requires loving God with our whole heart and our whole soul and our whole mind, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Legalism is not complete obedience, because legalistic obedience leaves no room for loving adaptions. (Think of a company policy that doesn’t always fit the circumstances.) And obeying God because we’re afraid of getting punished is not an obedience that’s motivated by love.
One day I saw a woman looking sadly at the votive candles in church. She wanted to light one for a prayer request, but she didn’t have the required dollar. My wallet was not with me, so I encouraged her with the assurance that it’s not a sin to pray without paying. Still, she did not feel right about lighting a candle unless she could obey the one dollar rule.
So I said, “The answer to your prayer does not depend upon a donation. The only reason for the donation request is to help the church. You can accomplish that by putting extra money into the collection basket on Sunday.”
To follow Jesus more closely, examine the motives behind your own obedience. Dig down to the heart of every rule or Church law that you obey, and identify the love that’s there.
Next, develop a deeper faith by starting a new practice: Light a candle in church every week without paying for it (and don’t worry if someone sees you — it’s only God’s opinion of you that matters) and cheerfully, out of love for God, increase your Sunday Mass offering by $2.00 for every $1.00 candle you use.
The root of every law is love. Generous love!
Today's Prayer
Fill me, Lord, with Your Holy Spirit so that my thoughts, my words, and my actions agree with Your loving purposes. Amen.
God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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