20260311 FULFILLING THE LAW OF LOVE
11 March 2026, Wednesday, 3rd Week of Lent
First reading |
Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9 |
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.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 147:12-13,15-16,19-20 |
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!
Gospel Acclamation | Jn8:12 |
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!
Or: | cf.Jn6:63,68 |
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!
Gospel | Matthew 5:17-19 |
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 OF LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [DT 4:1,5-9; PS 147:12-13,15-16,19-20; MT 5:17-19]
Law and love seem to be in antithesis. When we conceive of the Law, we tend to associate it with legalism. Laws, for us, are cold principles to be applied without consideration of a person’s upbringing, character, or weakness. They represent the objective application of principles to all, regardless of who we are. When we approach the Law this way, we are accused of being legalistic and unfeeling, lacking compassion and mercy. This could be true with respect to the way some people interpret or regard the Law, just like the Scribes and the Pharisees during the time of Jesus. They were focused on observing the laws of God simply because they came from God, who is the author. Therefore, they believed all the laws must be obeyed without exception, since it is not for us to decide which laws are more important than others.
To ensure the laws of God were carefully observed, they introduced the Scribal or Oral Laws, as they were called, because they supplemented the general principles of the Law given to them by Moses. Since we cannot expect Moses to have provided a law for every possible circumstance and every change of time and culture, it was the task of the scribes to apply the general principles of the Law of Moses to every possible situation in their time so that the laws of God could be truly kept and observed. With the detailed application of the basic laws into numerous regulations covering every possible situation, it became a real burden to the people, who lived in fear of breaking the Law. Some of these specific applications were also carried out in ways that were excessively scrupulous, and even unreasonable.
Yet the truth is that God’s Law actually reflects His character. The Law should not be seen as a mere set of arbitrary rules to govern human behaviour. Rather, it reveals God’s true nature. We come to know God through the Law, as Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:48) Such a command might seem unreasonable, but the truth is that we are created in the image and likeness of God, and therefore it is only when we reflect the Law of God in our life, conduct, and speech, that His image becomes visible in us. This explains why Moses told the people, “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.”
The truth is that the Law given to the people of Israel is the revelation of God’s love. Moses saw the Law as a gift from God – it is His way of loving us and a means to keep us in His love. God gave the Law to His people so that they could remain close to Him. The Law taught and guided the people in their conduct with God, with their fellow human beings, with strangers, the poor, and the orphans. Following the Law was the way to preserve harmony among themselves, so that there would be justice in their dealings with one another, especially in trade and business, while also showing mercy and compassion toward those who were weak or vulnerable by being generous and helping them in their difficult circumstances. In this way, everyone in the community was given a chance to flourish, to redeem themselves when they failed out of weakness. Thus, the Law was meant to help them love God and one another.
Indeed, Jesus summed up the greatest commandment by citing Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might”; and from Leviticus 19:18, “you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” These two commandments summarise the whole teaching of the Law. The Scribe affirmed Jesus’ teaching when he said, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength’, and ‘to love one’s neighbour as oneself’, this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (Mk 12:32f)
Indeed, observing the commandments of the Lord is the way to find life and live in harmony with our brothers and sisters. “Moses said to the people, ‘And 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.” This explains why the Lord in the Gospel upholds the importance of the Law, contrary to what some claimed – that Jesus did not respect the Law. “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.'” Clearly, Jesus sees the Law as revealing the nature of God, His will, and His wisdom.
In His teaching, therefore, every law must be kept. We will be judged by our response to God’s Word. Because the Law is the Word of God, it is not for us to pick and choose which laws we want to fulfil and obey. Whilst it is true that we can distinguish between the weightier laws from others, still, all laws require obedience. Therefore, we cannot say, I will obey God’s teaching on murder and killing, but not His teaching on marriage between a man and a woman, or adultery, fornication or divorce. Nor can we say, “I accept God’s teaching that we are created by Him but not according to two genders, male and female.” To reject His authority over us in every way means that we pick and choose what we want to believe, and only when the Lord agrees with us is God right; otherwise, He is wrong, and we are right!
Not only must the teaching of God’s Law be kept but also be taught as it is written. “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.” There is a grave danger today, in the name of “critical thinking”, that seeks to undermine the faith of our young people. They are asked to challenge the existence of God, the faith that they have inherited, and the truth of the Scriptures using science and rational thinking. When we crush the faith of our people through such forms of critical thinking, without grounding them in a firm foundation of the fear of God and His love, we cause them to be confused. This explains why many of our young people in so-called tertiary institutions, who have been bombarded by so-called scientific investigations into psychology, sociology, and philosophy, have lost their faith and are so confused that they abandon all norms of Christian living. They become lawless and are sceptical of anything that comes from institutions, especially religious institutions.
Of course, observance of the Law is more than simply observing the letter of the Law. It is faith in God’s word and in His wisdom that we are called to live according to the law of love. We can fall into the extreme danger of keeping the Law and yet fail to live according to the spirit of the Law, which is love. This is why Jesus teaches us that no matter how much we obey the Law, we can fall into legalism and Pharisaism. It is important to emphasise the interior motive in the observance of the Law. The essence of the Law that Jesus has come to fulfil is love of God and our neighbour. It is not about trying to satisfy the demands of the Law but about responding to the demand of love. All laws are meant to teach us how to love. And love has no limits. One cannot ever say that he has loved completely or enough. We will always fall short of love, regardless of what we do.
In truth, only our Lord could fulfil the Law completely. He brought to fulfilment all that the Old Testament revealed for our salvation and God’s will for humanity. Through a life of perfect obedience to the Father’s will, even unto death, He provides us with the way and the means to obey the Law more perfectly by giving us the Holy Spirit. He gives us the sacraments, the Word of God, and the Church to guide us in living out the life of the Spirit, which He poured out upon us through His death and resurrection. Indeed, He fulfils the prophecy of Ezekiel, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.” (Ez 36:26f)
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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