Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 2, 2016 - 3rd Week of Lent - Wed
[Deut 4:1, 5-9 and Matt 5:17-19]WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016 WEDNESDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT [Deuteronmy 4:1; 5-9 and Matthew 5:17-19] "Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?" [Deuternonomy] "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." [Matthew] The evangelist, Matthew, was writing for a community with many members, if not all, who were believers with Jewish roots. He was assuring them from what he knew of Jesus' teachings that the Law of Moses, the Torah (what we might call the Pentateuch), was still valid as a way of life. Jesus is portrayed as still a faithful Jew who interpreted the law as something that prepared the way for him. The issue, however, went beyond the community that Matthew wrote for, and was at the center of the early identity of the Christian movement. On one side were those who grew up as Jews. On the other were Gentiles who knew nothing of the Law but knew of Jesus and his death and resurrection and teachings. St. Paul, who had rejected the Law he once loved as a criterion for faith for Gentiles, stood on the side of the Gentiles. This dispute seems ancient to us now. But there is a version of it in Catholicism which emphasizes law to the point that mercy is lost. It is an "either/or" way of seeing the Church. Pope Francis has tried to soften this kind of heart. There will always be some whose faith is not far enough along to accept everything or observe everything. Can we welcome them as they are in some way? It is a way of seeing how Jesus welcomed people whose faith was not perfect, but was certainly enough for him to reach out and heal them. We cannot reach such folks if we insist on them keeping their distance. AMEN
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