Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - 3rd Week of Lent - Wed
[Deut 4:1, 5-9 and Matt 5:17-19]Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers is giving you. [Deuteronomy]
I belong to the Order of Preachers - the Dominicans - and we have an extensive set of "constitutions" that describe the way we want to live our vocation. The most important provisions have been part of these constitutions since the earliest days of the Order in the 13th century! In times of crisis - e.g. the Black Death (14th cent.), the Reformation (16th cent.), the French Revolution and its aftermath (18th and 19th cent.) - when it appeared that the very existence of the order was at stake because of disruption and laxity in observance, the way in which the order survived was by strictly observing the constitutions in certain priories and allowing the others to fade away! After the Second Vatican Council, when our constitutions were revised to bring them "up to date," we created a special section right at the beginning that states the fundamental values that we want to enable by whatever follows in the rest! The "rest" is subject to regular "tweaking" to keep us from becoming a medieval museum piece!
I mention this because today's scripture offers us two reflections on the "law of Moses" which was shaped by and in turn shaped the Jewish people! Historically, Deuteronomy represents a "reform" of an earlier observance enshrined in Leviticus! Despite the narrative that places the composition of the law in God's hands on Mt. Sinai, the law was unquestionably "tweaked' by human experience and transmission down through the centuries. By Jesus' time, there were 613 identifiable "precepts" to be observed. Needless to say, in a culture where few knew how to read or could afford to have a book, those who could read and interpret the law were powerful. That explains the position of the scribes and Pharisees. The Gospel of Matthew, the source of today's first scripture, reflects the tension over keeping the law in a Jewish community that has accepted Jesus as the Messiah!
Jesus presents himself as the "fulfillment of the law," the reason why the law exists to begin with! To the predominantly Jewish community for whom the Gospel of Matthew was written, the status of the law was very important. Nevertheless, in the 23rd chapter, Jesus takes dead aim at the scribes and Pharisees for the way in which they used the law to their own advantage. In the communities created by St. Paul from gentile converts, the status of the law would create a crisis that was resolved at the "Council of Jerusalem" [Acts 15].
The Mosaic Law is part of the Word of God. But we read it in the light of Jesus and his mission. Any Catholic who would care to follow the observances of that law is free to do so provided he or she maintains the Catholic observances where the two conflict. We Dominicans read our constitutions in the light of what we know of St. Dominic and the fundamental values he insisted on. All law in our church should have as its primary interpretive framework the life and mission of Jesus Christ. Pope Francis is trying to get us to see and hear this. I hope we're watching him and listening! AMEN
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