Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
Today we are challenged to focus on living what our faith teaches. The first reading from Deuteronomy is a prologue of Moses to the people of Israel before he gives them the law. Moses told the people to observe carefully “the statues and decrees” of the Lord. (Dt 4:5) He does this in part to remind the people of Israel what happened to those who had built and worshiped the golden calf. Moses wanted to send God’s chosen ones into the promise land knowing that they would be exposed to people, cultures, and gods that would be foreign to them. He knew they would be tested. Consider the culture to which we ourselves are exposed? How are we being tested? What is our response to those tests? Do we find ourselves praising God and trying harder to more diligently live our mission of faithful discipleship?
In the gospel today, Jesus refers to his mission as one that is to fulfill the teachings of the law and the prophets, not to abolish them. Like the first reading, the gospel reminds the disciples and us to truly live these commandments. Jesus like Moses also admonishes them to know that those who fail to do so will be considered the least in the Kingdom.”
Jesus came not only to fulfill the law but to bring it to perfection. Jesus came to make true the teachings of the law and the prophets. We too, are called to continue this mission of Jesus. We too, must live to the best of our ability all that we have been taught and bring to perfection the Lord’s law of love.
As we continue this Lenten season, let us keep an eye towards embracing the commandments in all their intensity. Often, we want to look at the tough elements in our lives and wish to deal with them at a more convenient time. Yet, now is the acceptable time. Lent is a time of turning away from sin and turning back toward living the truth. At Mass, before the reading of the Gospel, we make the sign of the cross on our forehead, lips and over our heart. In prayer, we might pray, “May the Lord be on my mind, upon my lips and within my heart.”
Lord, have these gestures remind us to live the truth that we have been taught. May our witness, whether in word or deed, reflect the law of love, and the One who lives and reigns, One God forever and ever. Amen.
-Michael Montgomery