Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 3rd Week of Lent - Wed
[Deut 4:1, 5-9 and Matt 5:17-19,313]"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] "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place." [Matthew]
The Gospel According to Matthew was written for a community of Jewish believers in Jesus as the Messiah. This belief put them in serious tension with their Jewish neighbors. It also put them in serious tension with themselves! What would be the status of torah, God's law handed down by Moses, in the life of the believer? The first scripture for today from Deuteronomy speaks to the importance of that law as God's will.
Jesus speaks of himself as the fulfillment of the law, i.e., the reason the law was created. St. Paul, who was a Pharisee before his conversion, speaks of the law as a "disciplinarian for Christ, that we might be justified by faith." A Jew who accepted Jesus might choose to continue to follow the observances of the law, but Jewish identity would not be required for belief in Christ. Jesus has brought a new torah.
There could be a lesson in this for us Catholics who may be devoted to certain customs and patterns that have developed over the centuries and have almost the status of law to us. I remember when the "fish on Friday" rule was lifted for most of the year and made optional. Some felt that their faith was in danger because of this change. But any Catholic could choose to continue the practice personally. (I do!) Our faith in Christ, as St. Paul continually reminds us, is not based on a particular custom or observance, even those that have the status of regulation. Knowing the essentials of our faith can help us understand why we have adopted certain customs, but those customs are not the same as the faith. AMEN
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