+ Our gospel passage today reminds us that Jesus came to be the
fulfillment of the Law of God; fulfillment
and not replacement: the essence of God’s ordering of things would
always be in effect, because they are from the very essence of creation as
given by God. But until God could come himself – in person – in the Person of
Jesus – to fully explain it and demonstrate it: a more rudimentary sort of
expression of it would have to suffice. And so we have the commandments given
to Moses on Mt. Sinai and others that came from God’s interaction with the
Patriarchs and the Prophets. It has
always been clear where the right path was: but a fuller expounding on
details simply had to wait.
Our
gospel passage today is very compelling: it illustrates Jesus’ divine
power over the law: he cites many examples on how “just keeping the law” had
been okay in the past: but now the time has come for him (who truly is the only
one who has the authority to do it) to introduce these words: “but I say to you:” – offer no resistance to one who is evil, be
extravagant in your generosity – love your enemies, pray for those who
persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father – be perfect,
just as your heavenly Father is perfect. And as it says in the Book of
Leviticus in the first reading: Be holy,
for I, the Lord, your God, am holy! And prove it by loving your neighbor as
yourself!
This
is a tall order: but because Jesus commands it: the grace will
always be there to accomplish it, this he promises. We must remember, as St.
Paul tells the Corinthians: we are
temples of God, having the Spirit of God dwelling in us, thereby making us
possessions of Christ and of his Father! What a company we are a part of!
May we thus be always wise in the things of God – who is not only our Father,
but also our goal – and not of the things of this world that will bring us
ruin!
May we continue to strive
daily to keep the word of Christ, so that the love of God will be perfected in
us: and we will be pleasing children
to our heavenly Father – and he will show
us his kindness and mercy with great abundance!
God
bless us, and be with us each day of our life, no matter what the
future might hold.
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