Acts by Law or Acts of Love?"

Today's Mass Readings

Both the readings deal with the role of laws in spirituality. However, before we reflect on this theme it seems very interesting to draw a parallelism between the two readings. It might be interesting to note the Matthew was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience. Thus, he constantly strives to present Jesus as the new Moses, but only far more superior than Judaism’s greatest prophet; hence, the parallelism in today’s readings as well. a) In the first reading from Deuteronomy, it was Moses who gave the Law on behalf of God. In the gospel reading from Matthew, it was Jesus who gave the new Law (the Sermon on the Mount. Today’s reading is part of the Sermon).

b) Moses gave the Law just before the people of Israel were to enter the Promised Land. Jesus gave the New Law as an initiation into discipleship.

c) Both Jesus and Moses stress the importance of and the absolute necessity of following the Law.

While the parallelism runs deep, Jesus goes a step ahead. First of all he suggests that neither his arrival nor his new law abrogate the old laws. In fact, he came to fulfil them. “Fulfil” literally means a literal enforcement to the very last detail. In the six areas that Jesus gives instructions to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, in three areas he extends or deepens the Mosaic Law (You shall not kill; You shall not commit adultery; and You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy), and in the other three he rejects the Mosaic Law as a standard of life for his disciples (teaching about divorce; teaching about oaths; and teaching about revenge).

What does this mean for us? Today’s readings end with Jesus’ statement: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of God.” In our Christian conduct, Jesus wants us to be more meticulous than the Pharisees. However, as an inspiration for our conduct we are called to follow not mere laws but a loving, compassionate, and faithful God.

May our Lenten penance not be routine, habitual acts of the law but meaningful, loving acts of love.