20200318
FULFILLING
THE LAW PERFECTLY
18 March, 2020, Wednesday, 3rd
Week of Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9 ©
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Keep these laws and observe them
Moses said to the
people:
‘Now,
Israel, take notice of the laws and customs that I teach you today, and observe
them, that you may have life and may enter and take possession of the land that
the Lord the God of your fathers is giving you.
‘See,
as the Lord my God has commanded me, I teach you the laws and customs that you
are to observe in the land you are to enter and make your own. Keep them,
observe them, and they will demonstrate to the peoples your wisdom and
understanding. When they come to know of all these laws they will exclaim, “No
other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation.” And indeed, what
great nation is there that has its gods so near as the Lord our God is to us
whenever we call to him? And what great nation is there that has laws and
customs to match this whole Law that I put before you today?
‘But
take care what you do and be on your guard. Do not forget the things your eyes
have seen, nor let them slip from your heart all the days of your life; rather,
tell them to your children and to your children’s children.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 147:12-13,15-16,19-20 ©
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O
praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
O
praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Zion,
praise your God!
He
has strengthened the bars of your gates
he
has blessed the children within you.
O
praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
He
sends out his word to the earth
and
swiftly runs his command.
He
showers down snow white as wool,
he
scatters hoar-frost like ashes.
O
praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
He
makes his word known to Jacob,
to
Israel his laws and decrees.
He
has not dealt thus with other nations;
he
has not taught them his decrees.
O
praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn8:12
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Glory
to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
I am
the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone
who follows me will have the light of life.
Glory
to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
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Or:
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Glory
to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Your
words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you
have the message of eternal life.
Glory
to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
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Gospel
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Matthew 5:17-19 ©
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I have not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to
complete them
Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till
heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear
from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes
even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same
will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps
them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.’
FULFILLING THE LAW
PERFECTLY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Dt 4:1, 5-9; Ps
147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20; Mt 5:17-19
]
Moses said to the people
after giving them the laws, “Keep them, observe them, and they will demonstrate
to the peoples your wisdom and understanding. When they come to know of all these laws
they will exclaim, ‘No other people is as wise and prudent as this great
nation.’ And indeed, what great nation is there that has its gods so near as
the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? And what great nation is
there that has laws and customs to match this whole Law that I put before you
today?”
Is it true that those
who follow the laws of God are wise? Many in the world think otherwise.
On the contrary, it seems that laws are joy-killers. They take away our
freedom to do what we like. We live in guilt and a bad conscience because
we have been conditioned by religion. Atheists think that
religions enslave people. Obeying the laws of God shows that
we are infantile in our thinking and ignorant in making decisions. Hence,
secularists and humanists think that they do not need the laws of God.
They can decide for themselves what is best. In fact, they believe that they
are a law unto themselves. In relativism, each one decides what is right
or wrong, good or bad. There is no law that fits everyone because it is
all a matter of preference and pragmatism. Laws are not necessarily right
or wrong but a matter of consensus. The majority dictates the laws.
So what is right yesterday is wrong today. We have many examples,
divorce, same-sex union, surrogate motherhood, euthanasia, abortion and even
satanic cults.
How, then, can we say
that following the laws of God shows us to be wise and understanding? How could Jesus in the gospel say,
“Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom
of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great
in the kingdom of heaven”? For the believers, the laws of God are
the expression of God’s wisdom in teaching us how to live truly liberated,
joyful, happy and meaningful lives. Those who abuse the laws of God would
only destroy themselves because they go against not just divine laws but the
laws of nature inscribed in creation. “God wrote on the tables of the Law
what men did not read in their hearts.” (St. Augustine) Indeed, St Paul wrote,
“if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. So the law is
holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.” (Rom 7:7,12)
The laws are good
because they are given to us by God Himself. “He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command. He showers down snow white as wool; he
scatters hoar-frost like ashes. He makes his word known to Jacob, to Israel
his laws and decrees. He has not dealt thus with other nations; he has
not taught them his decrees.” The weakness of the laws lies in the
way man interprets them. It is the lack of understanding and a right
application of the laws of God that cause us to be slaves rather than living as
free people.
Hence, we must clarify
what do we mean by the Law? Used
in a singular form, the Law refers to all the teachings and customs that Moses
passed on to the people. The Decalogue contains the moral principles
governing our relationship with God and our fellowmen. These moral
principles do not change with time and therefore applicable in every age. The
Decalogue provides us the foundation of all laws. Obedience to the Ten
Commandments is more than just a legalistic submission to the laws but more
importantly they provide us the principles of life, summed up as love of God
and love of neighbours. Flowing from these fundamental principles, Moses
sought to apply these principles concretely in the lives of his people.
In response to the
question, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is,
‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than
these.” (Mk 12:29-31) St Paul wrote, “Owe no one anything,
except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the
law.” (Rom
13:8)
Then we have Levitical
laws that were concerned with ceremonies, rituals and worship. Such laws, unlike the
Decalogue, change with time because they were preparations for the perfect
worship that Christ would reveal to us through His sacrifice on the
cross. For us Christians, the mass supersedes the Jewish form of worship.
The author of Hebrews tells us. “Jesus has now obtained a more excellent
ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has
been enacted through better promises.” (Heb 8:6)
Next we have the “Second
Law” which is what the Book of Deuteronomy means. It refers principally to how Moses
governed the people with civil laws, which were important to maintain proper
relationships among the peoples. Israel was not just the People of God,
they were also a State and therefore would require laws to ensure that everyone
is treated fairly and protected from being harmed by the selfishness of
others. These laws of Moses therefore would be applicable generally
to people of that time, but they needed to be adapted as the situation, culture
and governance structures changed.
When the Lord insisted
on obedience to the Law, saying,
“Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have
come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and
earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the
Law until its purpose is achieved”, it was not so much to observe all the laws
and customs faithfully according to the letter. Rather, we must observe
them more in accordance to the spirit because the challenges and problems
facing different cultures and epoch of time are different.
Thus, fulfilling the
laws does not mean that we observe the laws and the customs given in the bible
in a legalistic manner. These
laws must be understood and applied according to our times, in the Spirit of
love of God and our neigbours. If what we do is against the commandment
of love, then we have not been obedient to the laws. This explains why
Jesus broke the Sabbath Law at times because of a greater good demanded of Him,
namely, because the Sabbath Law must serve life. So it is not because the
laws are useless and take away our freedom and happiness in life. It is
the legalistic, unintelligent way of applying the Law.
However, just because we
interpret them correctly according to the Spirit, does not mean that we can
fulfil them. This is
why only with Jesus can we fulfill the law perfectly. We find
ourselves torn and divided, between knowing what is right and doing what is
right. As St Paul shared his spiritual struggle in his letter to the
Romans, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil
lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but
I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me
captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” (Rom 7:21-23)
So the only way is to depend on God’s grace and strength alone. “Wretched
man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to
God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24f)
Therefore to fulfill the law perfectly, we require more than the New Law of the
gospel as taught by our Lord; we need the Holy Spirit to work in us and empower
us. Only through the Holy Spirit, who is the interior law of God written
in our hearts, can we live out the New Law of Christ. (cf Jer
31:31-34; Ez 36:26-28) Jesus is the New Covenant, because He
gives us the New Law and the Holy Spirit.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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