Four year olds are famous for asking lots of questions. They spend their days asking "why?" as they explore their world. Sometimes we can’t answer their profound questions.
During a given day we keep many rules and obey the laws of the Church and society. It might be interesting and revealing to ask ourselves "why" we are doing certain things. Why do we go to “church”? What are we doing with our gift of free will?
The readings for tomorrow speak to the fact that God’s law must be taught and shared. We can’t respond to Jesus just by being good and going to church. We need to share Christ’s teachings and invitations to a different kind of life. Jesus “fulfilled” the laws – he provided the example of a life lived completely obeying the commandments, bringing them to life. But, Jesus takes it further and calls us to join him. The law is not just meant to be obeyed. We must share the law and guide others in how to do the same.
I drove to Bakersfield (roughly, a 2 hour trip one way) with my friend—and boss—Todd today. As is often the case, we got our work conversations out of the way first, then, we talked about our families and the daily triumphs and struggles attendant to those. He is not a “religious” man, but he does believe in God. I get the feeling he is “searching” for answers, but not aggressively. We talked about and laughed about and prayed earnestly for our families, especially our children and grandchildren. He brought up a topic that reminded me of today’s Gospel (it occurs to me I didn’t blog about it last night!). That got me started on a 10 minute discourse about forgiveness, and how I need to work on my lack of forgiveness to others who I feel have hurt me or my family or my friends, whether in a big way or a small way.
At the end of our stay in Bakersfield, it was my job to drive a truck back to Fresno and Todd was to follow me. He said, “It’s going to be a long drive back without someone to talk to. No offense, but I like your occasional “sermons”. They always get me thinking about how I can improve myself.” I couldn’t respond. I didn’t think I was saying anything special today. I was just relaying my understanding of the Gospel that I received through my Catholic faith. I also told him I didn’t take offense at his statement. I should have added ( but pride got in the way?) that any good that came out of our conversation would have to be credited to the Holy Spirit, because I was just relaying what I was inspired to say, without any foreknowledge we were even going to have the conversation!
I digress—back to tomorrow’s readings! As I ponder today’s experience with Todd, it strikes me that tomorrow’s readings strongly emphasize the importance of God’s laws. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus makes it clear to his disciples that the law of the Old Testament still stands. Although people of Jesus’ time may have thought that Jesus came to replace the rules of the Old Testament, Jesus states that he did not come to erase God’s commandments or to open a “back door” into heaven for his followers. Rather, Jesus came to challenge us all not only to follow God’s commandments, but to lead others to follow them as well.
How often in life do we simply go through the motions of being Christian? Sitting in Mass on Sundays, saying a quick prayer at night before falling asleep, giving up sweets or Facebook for Lent without really thinking about what Lent is all about. Jesus challenges us all to enter more fully into God’s laws. What is it that God is actually calling us to in life? What does following God’s laws, God’s commandments really mean, and how does it change our lives? We should not simply go through the motions of Christianity. Rather, as Jesus calls us to do, we must follow and enter fully into God’s commandments.
In life, we all meet hypocrites: people who promote something while not even following it themselves. The typical response to a hypocrite is as follows: “Well, I’m definitely not going to do what you’re telling me to do!” The same goes for Christianity. If we want to truly lead others towards Jesus by following God’s commandments, we cannot simply follow the rules, because people will recognize that we are not being sincere. Instead, we must enter into God’s commandments so that faith is not only going through the actions, but an easily recognized part of our lives. May God forgive my lack of humility here, but it’s nice to hear people at work say to me (once in a while), “I enjoy your occasional ‘sermons’” or, “Can I ask your opinion on a spiritual matter?” Their recognition that I am at least trying to lead a holy and spiritual life makes me feel that maybe I’m on the right track.
Let us each take a few moments to think about ways that we can enter more fully into God’s kingdom. Are we following God’s commandments because we have to? Or have we allowed God’s commandments to enter into our lives? God wants us all to obey his commandments and lead others to follow him; he wants us to be called greatest in his Kingdom!
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