Mark 10:45

Tag: life

  • The Point of the Law

    The Point of the Law

    Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Lent

    Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9; John 6:63c, 68c; Matthew 5:17-19

    On a break during Canon Law class, the professor told me about a case he studied years before.

    On one side was a priest whose behavior showed a blatant disregard of Canon Law. He acted as if it simply didn’t apply to him. On the other side, the prosecuting priest was just as extreme in the opposite direction. He clung so tightly to the letter of the law that he almost made it an end in itself.

    The professor said that every clergyman must remember above all the last canon in the Church’s law. Its final line says this: ‘The salvation of souls must always be the supreme law of the Church.’ “So remember,” Father said, “when you deal with people, the law isn’t there to control them or to be ignored. The law exists to save souls.”

    That’s exactly what Christ teaches in today’s Gospel. When he says he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it, our minds might jump to the Pharisees or others, who treated the law as an end in itself. But I believe he was also thinking of people who lived as if God’s commandments were optional.

    Maybe, before my mind jumps to anyone else, I should take a look at myself. Are there times in my life – like when I do something wrong – that I look the other way, make excuses, or go easy on myself? And are there other times when I’m hard or unforgiving – say perhaps when someone offends me or someone I love? The truth is, I don’t have to look very far to find that I myself live on both sides of the continuum; I am both priests Father talked with me about.

    All the more reason for me to remember Father’s lesson – the law exists to save souls, to give life. The Gospel Acclamation said it so well – His words are Spirit and life (John 6:63, 68); medicine for the soul and meant to bring us all to everlasting life.

    So when Jesus says he has not come to abolish the law but fulfill it, he’s reminding us of something simple but very profound: God did not give us his commandments to control us or offer suggestions. He gave them to save us.

    With that in mind, here’s a way we can live out the gospel this week: Choose one commandment and bring it to life in a small, concrete way. For example, if it’s the Fifth Commandment, speak gently in a situation in which you might otherwise speak in anger. If it’s the Seventh Commandment, be honest yet gentle, even if that’s inconvenient. In all things, let the law guide you to life, not weigh you down.

    When we do such things, our actions show the world that the most important thing is that the law points the way to Jesus, who himself is the Way.

    And the Truth.

    And the Life.

    —

  • By Heart, From the Heart

    By Heart, From the Heart

    Sunday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time

    Sirach 15:15-20; Psalm 119:34; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37

    Years ago, I served on the pro-life committee of the parish I attended. At one meeting, I noticed that the more we talked about changing the law, the less comfortable one of our members became. When asked why, she said, “I don’t want to focus on changing laws. I want to focus on changing hearts so the very idea of abortion becomes unthinkable.”

    While I believe there’s room for both, I understood what she meant. And I hear echoes of that perspective in the Gospel today.

    The writers of the New Testament don’t portray Jesus as just another wise man offering good advice. St. Paul calls him the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). And that means he is uniquely able to reveal what the Law was always meant to do.

    So when Jesus says, “You have heard it said… but I say to you…”, he isn’t correcting Moses. He’s reaching beyond the letter of the Law to its heart.

    That’s why he moves from “Do not kill” to the anger that leads to it, and from “Do not commit adultery” to the disordered ways we too often look at or relate to one another. He isn’t dismissing the Law — he’s uncovering its deepest purpose.

    And what is that purpose? Love. Love is the heart of the Law – both love of God and love of neighbor. It’s true that the purpose of having laws is to keep us from wrongdoing, but it’s also true that a heart formed in love makes wrongdoing unthinkable. Jesus is calling us to live not just under the law, but from the heart and by heart.

    When we learn something by heart, we don’t just memorize it. We absorb it so deeply that it becomes part of us. That’s what Christ wants. He’s not asking us to merely memorize commandments, but to learn goodness by heart. He knows that if we do that, then obedience to God’s law will show through the goodness that flows from our hearts.

    So how do we learn goodness by heart? I think the Psalm for today said it best: Give me understanding, that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart (Psalm 119:34). OK then, what is understanding? Understanding is a gift of the Holy Spirit that shows us how the truths of our faith apply to our daily lives. We can cultivate that gift by taking the time every day – perhaps in the evening, or just before bed – to look back on our day and ask ourselves some questions: What good did I do? What did I fail to do? Did I live as though I remembered, as Sirach said in the first reading, that the eyes of God are upon me? I might fool myself into thinking I’m alone sometimes, but remember Sirach. The all-seeing God is always watching.

    The goal of keeping that in mind isn’t to frighten myself into obedience or putting together a list of the commandments I’ve broken – although such a list is useful. No, the goal is to identify what lies at the heart of my behavior. What are my attitudes about life, the people around me, and myself? Do I take people or things for granted? How do I respond when the going gets tough, or when someone really needs me? As I come to understand myself better, I can resolve to make changes where I need to.

    Of course, this takes time. None of us arrives overnight. But Christ, who is Wisdom itself, patiently writes God’s law on our hearts — through prayer, the Eucharist, forgiveness, and the daily practice of charity.

    Yes, it requires effort on our part. But over time, loving God and loving our neighbor becomes less a burden and more an instinct.

    That isn’t abolishing the Law. That is the Law fulfilled — in a heart made like Christ’s.

    —

  • Glorious Grains

    Glorious Grains

    Tuesday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time

    Ephesians 5:21-33; Luke 13:18-21

    When we visit a cathedral or basilica, we naturally focus on the art and architecture. I doubt that anyone stops at the outside of the building first and says, “Wow, those bricks are impressive. And the mortar between each one… glorious!” No, we take these for granted.

    It’s ordinary to look past the ordinary.

    Yet, where would that glorious cathedral be without the bricks? And how would the bricks stay together without the mortar? And where would the mortar be without the tiny, insignificant, almost invisible grains of sand?

    Maybe the insignificant isn’t so insignificant after all. Certainly in the case of the cathedral, we can’t get to the larger without beginning with the smaller.

    That is the fundamental point of our Lord’s parables today. The large mustard bush can’t grow unless the little mustard seed is planted first; the dough can’t rise unless the tiny yeast become active and so leaven the bread. So the Church, with all her glorious accomplishments, can’t rise without us, the tiny grains of sand, working together, dying to ourselves as it were.

    That’s the kind of dying that makes a marriage, or any lasting relationship, too. We don’t define a good marriage by how nice the wedding was, or how wonderful the vacations were. Rather, it’s the day-to-day living; the submitting to each other, dying to self. That of course includes the moments of joy and sorrow, but it also (and mostly) includes the vast majority of ordinary moments in-between. In fact, it is what we do or fail to do in those ordinary moments that give the extraordinary moments their deepest meaning.

    As St. Paul reminds us, Christ himself is the perfect example of all this. Who submitted himself more than he, who was more selfless or humble than he who took our flesh and handed it over, that he might make us, his Bride, holy and immaculate before the Father? And he did this every day; not a moment from his conception onward has been wasted. Indeed, Christ sanctified time by entering into it. There were the hugely extraordinary moments, like his incarnation, death and resurrection, but there were also the “ordinary” moments, like today, when he taught or simply walked with among us. And the world has been forever changed by even the most ordinary of them.

    One of my sons once gave me an hourglass, and I find it an apt metaphor. Each moment we are given by God is a grain of sand; we have it only as it passes, then the moment is gone. Today and every day, Christ is calling us to remember that each moment is far, far from ordinary; for God is in each one, and each can be used to build Him what He wants most: the glorious cathedral of a life in which He will dwell forever, if we let him.

    —

  • To Life: Saturday after Ash Wednesday

    To Life: Saturday after Ash Wednesday

    Ezekiel 33:11

    In the gospel acclamation from the book of Ezekiel, the Lord says, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man… but rather in his conversion, that he may live (Ezekiel 33:11).

    A popular radio talk show host recently died and the air waves are full of condolences but also, sadly, celebrations. Those who disliked him are publicly rejoicing that he died. Before I get too self-righteous I can honestly say for my part that there have been times I was happy to hear that someone had died. For example, I wasn’t a bit sad to learn that Osama bin Laden had been killed or Saddam Hussein executed. These men were the architects of some truly terrible human disasters; wicked men who met a wicked end, which was exactly what I thought they deserved.

    Yet today we hear that God takes no pleasure in their death. Rather, he wanted their conversion; he wanted them home, eternally in union with him.

    This might upset our idea of justice. How could such tyrants ever merit the eternal bliss of heaven? How could God love them? Then again we must ask: Are we thinking of justice or vengeance? And have we given enough credit to that most wonderful attribute of God – his infinite, merciful love?

    Although our love can never be infinite, Jesus has made it clear that we are still called to love as God loves. Therefore, let us resolve to pray, work, and rejoice in life, not death; to remember that love does not abandon the wicked to their sins but calls them to conversion, that they may find their way out of the darkness and into the healing, forgiving light of Christ.

    Just as we ourselves hope to do.

  • Today: Thursday After Ash Wednesday

    Today: Thursday After Ash Wednesday

    Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Matthew 4:17; Luke 9:22-25

    Today. We just heard Moses say it twice. Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today… (Deuteronomy 30:15). We can almost feel the immediacy in his words. Don’t put it off! Choose now! The time is now!

    There is a similar sense throughout the gospels. We hear it in the gospel acclamation, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17). It is here, now. We also heard it in Luke’s gospel as our Lord said: if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily (Luke 9:23). In fact, this call of Christ differs from the call in Mark’s gospel (Mark 8:34-35) only in that one word – daily.

    Today, the second day of Lent, is that day. God sets before us the choice: On the one hand, death and doom, the inevitable end of all sinfulness; on the other hand, life and prosperity, the inevitable end of bearing our cross and following after our Lord all the way to Calvary, the tomb, and resurrected glory.

    Don’t put it off; tomorrow is not guaranteed. The time is now.