Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

(Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)

In his poem “Mending Wall” Robert Frost writes, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”  Walls are barriers that keep people apart.  But they also maintain order.  Laws are like walls.  Something about them is repugnant.  People, for the most part, want to help not hurt one another.  Why should they be restricted in their outreach?  Yet both readings today speak of the value of laws. 

In the first reading, Moses tells the people that they form a great nation because their laws are just. Given by God Himself, they have shaped a population of slaves into a just and holy people.  In the gospel Jesus confirms the worthiness of Jewish laws although he will enhance them.  His aim is to make a holy nation perfect.

Laws preserve not only order but also identity.  Keeping the Law, Jews remain Jewish.  They also assure that wayward human tendencies do not hurt others.  Still, we look forward to the abolition of laws, as Jesus says, with the coming of the Kingdom.  Then there will only remain the law of love.  Then, as the Holy Spirit fills every soul, all will love as we should.

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

 Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

(Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)

In an important new book on Exodus, humanist Leon Kass lists three essentials for a nation.  A nation must have a founding narrative to give the people an ideal to emulate.  It must have laws to guide the people day by day.  And it must have ritual in which the people can realize at least in a preliminary way their hopes.  Today’s readings focus on the second of these building blocks.

Moses reminds the people of what a truly great gift their law is.  It comes from God who is as close to them as they are to each other.  It proves to be just by keeping together these different families and tribes.  Jesus reasserts the value of the law.  He will not abolish an iota of it although he makes some significant emendations.  They are not only to love their neighbors but their enemies as well.  They are not only prohibited from adultery, but from looking at women with lust.

Christians form a people and a nation but not one that competes with the nation-states of today.  It is as if we can had dual nationalities – one where we live and work and the other to which we aspire when we die.  In fact, the second – our eternal nation – enables us to be better citizens of the first.  Its laws form our moral code.  They form us more completely than the laws of the state because they demand inner compliance.  They put us in touch with our God who makes us honest, noble, and patriotic.