Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - St. Barnabas, apostle
[Acts 11:21B-26; 13:1-3 and Matthew 5:17-19]Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets, I have come not to aboish but fulfill.
It is difficult for us to understand the import of the words of Jesus' quoted above from today's gospel scripture if we have no background in Jewish faith. The Hebrew scriptures (Old Testamen) are the entire bible for Jews. For some of the Jews in Jesus' time, ONLY the first five books of the bible, the TORAH, were considered authoritative for life. The Sadducees were of that belief. The Pharisees accepted the Prophets and "Writings" as also authoritative guides, even if not given by Moses. In either case, any indication in early Christian preaching that the Torah was no longer authoritative would have been inflammatory (as St. Paul discovered). The Gospel of Matthew is at pains to show that Jesus does not abolish the Torah but shows that the Torah ALONE was not enough. His own teaching took it further. The nearest experience to this that I can relate to is what happened when certain customary practices, enshrined in Catholic law in this country, were no longer REQUIRED but became voluntary. The best example I can think of is fish on Friday! Although this custom has been maintained for Lent, it is no longer a binding law during the rest of the liturgical year. Many people felt lost when that occurred. It wasn't just the question of the value of the practice (doing penance), it was the BINDING nature of the practice. This aspect of it added to the ascetical character. It was no longer a penance because you didn't HAVE TO do it! That, to me, misses the point, although I concede the psychological asceticism of being compelled to eat a certain way always on a particular day. (Fish is no penance to me, however!) The point of the sacrifice was to identify with the death of Jesus on Good Friday. Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount is designed to show us that we must go further than what we are REQUIRED to do if we truly wish to be his disciples. It is not the binding character of a religious "law" that leads to holiness, but rather the motive of loving God and neighbor by following that law. Good Jews could continue to observe the Torah and still believe in Jesus, according to the Gospel of Matthew. Be that as it may, we Catholics need to pay attention to the way in which we respond to the necessity to observe certain customs and practices. The reason for them is more important than their binding character! AMEN
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