Wednesday of the
Third Week in Lent
(Deuteronomy 4:1.5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)
When Judge Roy Moore of Alabama was prohibited by the
federal court from displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom, he brought
the Commandments to the people. He
hauled around a two and a half ton granite monument with the Ten Commandments
inscribed. In his meanderings he argued
that the Decalogue forming the basis of law has a place in a government
forum. It is a similar message to what
we hear in the Scripture readings today.
In the passage from Deuteronomy Moses exhorts the people
to observe the whole law which is based on the Ten Commandments. Jesus says in the gospel that he will not
subtract an iota from that law but means to fulfill them. In the following section of the Sermon on the
Mount he shows that self-sacrificing love is necessary to establish full justice.
At times the Ten Commandments seem like rules for
children. However, we must recognize the
different levels -- most often hidden – to which they are applied. For example, the Fourth Commandments not only
admonishes us to obey our parents in our youth but to care for them in their
old age. It further requires us to comply
with the laws of the land and to contribute to the common good. Read properly, the Ten Commandments
anticipate the whole natural law which well serves as the basis of positive
laws decreed by the state.
