As I was
reflecting about the Ten Commandments today, I realized we don’t really hear
people talk about them anymore. We hear
people talk about our nation’s laws, but not about God’s laws. Like the people back in the time of Moses;
even though they were closer in time to the event of Moses receiving the
Commandments on two stone tablets, they too had to be reminded of their value
in maintaining good world order. These
were the rules of life’s engagement that focused on God first and then on neighbor. (Deuteronomy 4:1-9)
As
Americans, we tend to experience the law as rather stern measures which direct
mostly what we can’t do. Who of us
hasn’t rolled through a stop sign at one time or another or made a right turn
on red onto a deserted street even though the sign said no turn on red? Who of us haven’t heard it said that as long
as you stay ten miles an hour below the speed limit on a highway, you should be
fine, i.e. you won’t be pulled over?
I’m reminded
of a time many years ago when I was driving home from work late at night
through the deserted streets of downtown Stockton. As was my practice, I was praying my Rosary
and meditating on the life of Jesus. So
I missed the stop sign I was all too familiar with, and sure enough a traffic
cop stopped me. When I rolled down my
window, she asked me if I had seen the stop sign. I replied that I was praying and got a little
absent minded, admitting that I knew there was a stop sign there. She saw the rosary beads in my hand and said,
“I’m going to let you off with a warning, but please don’t get so deep in
prayer that you fail to stop at stop signs!”
We both laughed and assured her I would wait until I got home to resume
my prayers. We all know that laws create
order in a large society. We experience
them as rather rigid – yes or no, black or white, legal or illegal. There can be no exceptions, no excuses, and
no possibilities of violations without appropriate penalty. Fear of penalty is the operating force behind
our understanding of law.
The
Scriptural understanding of law is somewhat different. As Deuteronomy reveals to us, God’s law is
the source of life and love. The law is
God’s invitation to remember the abundance of love that showers down upon His
people. They experienced it in the call
to become God’s own people through Abraham and Sarah. They found the blessings of that love in
their growth as a people and then as a nation.
They saw God’s love vividly in the gift of freedom given in the Exodus,
and again as they were about to enter the Promised Land. Having experienced God’s love, they were
asked to live that love among themselves.
Living the law of God means living according to the mind and heart of
God. What is that mind and heart? We see it over and over again when the Chosen
People abandon the law and are reminded through the messages of the
prophets. Living God’s love means
especially a loving generosity for the most vulnerable, the weakest, those
without a voice in circles of power, the sick, the poor. For this reason, we hear so very much about
the absolute necessity to take care of the widows, the orphans, and the
stranger who comes amongst them. How
these are treated will dictate God’s judgment about how well the mind and heart
of God is being lived.
This, then,
is our Lenten invitation today. Do we
understand the message of Jesus in today’s gospel as His invitation for us to
live the fullness of the gospel law? Do
we understand we are being asked if we are remembering all of the love of Jesus
poured out upon us in the gift of redemption and our continuing nourishment in
love through the gift of His Body and Blood?
Are we living the mind and heart of Jesus, the love of Jesus in our
families? In our parishes? In our neighborhoods? In our country? In our world?
What is our attitude toward the most vulnerable people of our day? Among others, these might include the
disabled, the chronically ill, the elderly poor, the working poor, those
without adequate health care, the “strangers” in our land – both documented and
undocumented. Are we reflecting the love
centered mind and heart of Jesus toward these?
Love God and love one another as you would have them love you – this
sums up the entire law!!! How are we
doing? How am I doing?
Generation
after generation is reminded of the importance of God’s Commandments. With hindsight we saw the people in biblical
times fall and get back up many times; people conquering people, taking all
their possessions, including their land.
But God was faithful in restoring their wellbeing when the people were
faithful to Him. I couldn’t help but
draw a parallel to our times today. It’s
a great reminder that faithfulness to the Word will bring us back from our
struggles today as well. There are two
important lines in Deuteronomy about these laws. One: if we keep God’s Commandments, people
will look on us as being wise; and two: we’re to be sure to pass them on to our
children and to their children.
Thankfully, we have the Commandments today, as each generation has done
just that and passed them down to us.
Today’s a
good day spend some of our time reflecting on these simple rules again;
rediscovering their power to transform us into wise beings of Love. Jesus said, “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.”
(Matthew 5:18)
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