Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
(Deuteronomy 4:1.5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)
The word ethos sounds like ethic. The two words, no doubt, are derived from
the same root. But there is an important
difference between them. Where ethics
refers to moral principles, ethos in addition to principles includes
a people’s guiding beliefs and customs that are shaped by common stories. Israel’s ethos is given in the “whole law” referred
to in today’s first reading. It is the torah,
the first five books of the Bible, which prescribes in stories and
laws how the “people of God” are to live.
In the gospel Jesus declares that the torah will
remain in force for his community of disciples.
They must uphold the traditions of the patriarchs and of Moses who guided
the people to holiness. Most
emphatically, they must guard against idols.
These whims of treacherous hearts would replace the living God, who loves
and protects His people, with fraudulent desires.
We should not think that Jesus intends his disciples to
follow the Jewish leadership in his day.
They (and we) are to be distinguished by sexual restraint, care for
neighbor, and humility before God. In
these ways they become God’s people.
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