RBWords

     The evangelist Matthew composed his portrait of Jesus for a community of Jewish Christians.  That very term, "Jewish Christians" might seem an oxymoron to us since (with the possible exception of the tiny group that calls itself "Jews for Jesus") Judaism does not recognize Jesus as the messiah whom God has sent.  However, at the time Matthew composed his gospel, the lines of belief were not clearly drawn at all.  In Jerusalem, those Jews who had accepted Jesus were trying to see how they could continue their way of life and still believe in Jesus as the Messiah.  That way of life was enshrined in the Law of Moses.  Matthew presents Jesus as a "new Moses" who is introducing a new way of understanding God's law.  If the purpose of that law was to prepare the Jewish world for the coming of the Messiah, then its purpose was "fulfilled" with the coming of Jesus.  Did this mean that the observances of that law no longer had a purpose?  Jesus' attacks on the scribes and Pharisees in chapter twenty-three indicate that it was not the law that was the problem but those who were using it for their own purposes.  At the same time, anything in the law that impeded love of God and neighbor was no longer effective.  There is both continuity and discontinuity.  The discontinuity was dramatically brought home when the Roman army, in response to an uprising in Jerusalem, totally destroyed the city and most importantly the temple - the center of Jewish worship!  Judaism survived, but without a very large chunk of its way of life.  Later on, St. Paul's rejection of the observances of the law, including circumcision, would bring about a revolution in Christian understanding.

     There is an important lesson for us Catholics in this.  The love of God and neighbor, which comes to us from the Law of Moses, remains in effect.  The  essential elements of Catholicism: creed and sacraments have taken the place of the rest of the Law of Moses.  But there is an incredible variety of devotional forms that have also developed - the rosary being an obvious example.  These are very much a part of daily Catholic life, but are not the same as the Creed and the Sacraments.  This has been brought home to us dramatically in the requirements imposed by the coronavirus crisis when the celebration of the sacraments has been curtailed by the need to stay healthy.  Our devotional life has been a source of comfort, but the return of normal sacramental celebration is what we long for.  Our faith remains intact, but our expression of it has been stifled to some extent.  We should remember above all that the coronavirus cannot conquer love of God and neighbor which we can find in Matthew 25:31-45: "When I was hungry, etc......"  This, too, requires caution just as the requirements of Church attendance does right now, but all of this remains for our reflection and determined effort to continue.  AMEN