March 26, 2025
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 239
Reading 1
Moses spoke to the people and said:
"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.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.'
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
"However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children's children."
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Verse Before the Gospel
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
"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 or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032625.cfm
Commentary on
Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9
Moses reminds the Israelites of the great treasure they have
in their laws and customs, a treasure full of “wisdom and discernment”. These
laws are life-giving and will bring the people closer to their God:
For what other great nation has a god so near to it as
the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has
statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you
today?
Other Jewish traditions from this period often emphasise the
distance between God and man, indicated by the reluctance even to utter the
name of God (as we see even in Matthew’s Gospel).
However, Deuteronomy calls attention to the loving intimacy
between God and the people among whom he lives. His enduring presence was
symbolised by the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant in the centre of the
Israelites’ camp, and by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by
night, which indicated God’s accompanying presence with his people at all
times.
God’s love for humanity will find its supreme expression,
however, in the Incarnation, when the Word of God “became flesh and lived among
us” as one of us—a concept many devout Jews would find very hard to accept.
But it is in the Law, too, that God is with his people.
Through its observance, they express their closeness to him. Yet Jesus was to
make radical modifications to this Law to bring it to even greater heights of
sensitivity and accountability.
The greatness of any society can in part be measured, first,
in the quality of its legal system and, second, in how its laws are
administered and observed. This involves close cooperation between law-makers,
enforcers of the law, interpreters of the law and observers of the law.
But, above everything else, as Jesus clearly indicates in
today’s Gospel, is the law of love which does not abrogate, but goes far beyond
the Mosaic Law and includes a deep sense of justice, of compassion and unity
between people.
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Commentary on
Matthew 5:17-19
In Matthew’s Gospel especially, Jesus is shown as not being
a maverick breakaway from the traditions of the Jews. He was not a heretic or a
blasphemer. He was the last in the great line of prophets sent by God to his
people:
…he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my
son.’ (Matt 21:37)
So in today’s passage, Jesus strongly emphasises that it is
not his intention to abrogate the Jewish law, but rather to develop and
complete it. In the verses that immediately follow today’s passage, Jesus gives
six very clear examples of what he means. He quotes a number of moral
situations contained in the Law, and shows how he expects his followers not
only to observe them, but to go much further in understanding their underlying
meaning.
The Law is not to be downgraded in any way. Rather, it is to
be transcended to a higher level. Up to the time of Jesus—and this is clearly
exemplified in the Pharisees and scribes as they appear in the Gospels—perfect
observance of the Law focused on external acts. Jesus will show that true
observance must also be in the heart and mind.
Christians, too, can become obsessed with external
observance of Church laws and regulations. It can become a source of
scrupulosity and fear. This can happen during the Lenten season when we are
encouraged to do ‘penitential acts’. We need to remember that these acts do not
stand on their own. They only have meaning if they deepen our relationship with
God. In all things, our ultimate guide must be the law of love. No truly loving
act can ever be sinful, although at times it may violate the letter of a law.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1034g/
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
Your prophets remind us in season and
out of season of our responsibilities toward You and toward the world of
people.
When they disturb and upset us,
let it be a holy disturbance that makes us restless, eager to do Your will and
to bring justice and love around us. We
ask You this through Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 5: 17-19
Jesus said to his
disciples: “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 or the smallest part of a letter will
pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks
one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be
called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these
commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Reflection
Today’s Gospel (Mt 5: 17-19)
teaches how to observe the law of God in its complete fulfillment (Mt 5:
17-19). Matthew writes in order to help the communities of converted Jews
overcome the criticism of the brothers of their own race who accused them,
saying, “You are unfaithful to the Law of Moses.” Jesus Himself had been
accused of infidelity to the Law of God. Matthew has Jesus’ clarifying response
to His accusers. Thus, Matthew sheds some light to help the communities solve
their problems.
Using images of daily life, with simple
and direct words, Jesus had said that the mission of the community, its reason
for being, is that of being salt and light! He had given some advice regarding
each one of the two images. Then follow the brief verses of today’s Gospel.
•
Matthew 5: 17-18: Not one dot, nor one stroke is
to disappear from the Law. There were several different tendencies in the first
Christian communities. Some thought that it was not necessary to observe the
laws of the Old Testament, because we are saved by faith in Jesus and not by
the observance of the Law (Rm 3: 21-26). Others accepted Jesus, the Messiah,
but they did not accept the liberty of spirit with which some of the
communities lived the message of Jesus. They thought that being Jews, they had
to continue to observe the laws of the Old Testament (Acts 15: 1, 5). But there
were Christians who lived so fully in the freedom of the Spirit, who no longer
looked at the life of Jesus of Nazareth, nor to the Old Testament that they
even went so far as to say, “Anathema Jesus!” (1 Cor 12: 3). Observing these
tensions, Matthew tries to find some balance between both extremes. The
community should be a place where the balance can be attained and lived. Jesus’
answer to those who criticized Him continued to be relevant for the
communities: “I have not come to abolish the law, but to complete it!” The
communities could not be against the Law, nor could they close themselves off
in the observance of the Law. Like Jesus, they should advance and show in
practice, the objective thst the Law wanted to attain in people’s lives, that
is, in the perfect practice of love.
•
Matthew 5: 17-18: Not one dot or stroke will
disappear from the Law. It is for those who wanted to get rid of the law
altogether that Matthew recalls the other parable of Jesus: “Anyone who breaks
even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same
will be considered the least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps
them and teaches them will be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” The
great concern in Matthew’s Gospel is to show that the Old Testament, Jesus of
Nazareth, and the life in the Spirit cannot be separated. The three of them
form part of the same and unique plan of God and communicate to us the
certainty of faith: The God of Abraham and of Sarah is present in the midst of
the community by faith in Jesus of Nazareth who sends us His Spirit.
Personal Questions
•
How do I see and live God’s law: as a freedom to
do anything I please, as an imposition which restricts me, or as a guide to
grow in love?
•
What can we do today for our brothers and
sisters who consider all of this type of discussion as obsolete and not
relevant?
•
How does this view of the Law and the
Commandments affect me? As a line which defines sin, as rules to avoid vice, or
as a guide in attaining virtue?
Concluding Prayer
Praise Yahweh, Jerusalem, Zion, praise your God.
For He gives strength to the bars of your gates, He blesses
your children within you. (Ps 145: 12-13)
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