Lenten Exercise #6
Monday of the First Week of Lent
Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/021108.shtml
The coming of Christ does not really change the content of the law. The thought that "Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself," is a novel breakdown by Jesus is quickly corrected by reading the passage from Leviticus today.
What does change is that (or who) in which (whom) the law is grounded. In Leviticus, every series of laws is punctuated with the phrase, "I am the Lord." This indicates that it is a command from on high - its repetition a reminder of this fact so that we should not forget from whom this command is coming and why we should listen. It is as we heard on Saturday in Isaiah: "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." As such, its justification seems grounded in the fact that it is a command from the almighty and all knowing God.
The sentiment, "Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy," remains in the Gospel today - in fact, it is echoed elsewhere by Jesus as well: "So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) But listen to how the sentiment is grounded in Jesus' speech: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." Whenever we fed the hungry, clothed the naked, or visited the imprisoned we fed, clothed, or visited Christ. The command has been slightly altered from "Love thy neighbor ... for I am the Lord," to "Love they neighbor ... who IS the Lord." It is not removing morality from its place in God's being, but it seeks to ensure that each person with whom we interact is treated as we would treat Christ as a man.
We no longer obey out of fear or simply duty, we obey out of mutual respect for our sisters and brothers. The law is not to be lived at all times looking at the sky towards God - to live that way could be (if not rightly oriented) presumptuous and could cause us to undervalue God's creation and the goods therein that can help us on our journey to God. The law also cannot be lived when treating the goods of this earth to be ends in themselves alone. Rather, the law is to be lived looking towards God and His perfection through our interactions with others. Through perfecting our interactions with our sisters and brothers on earth, we dispose ourselves well and attain to the blessedness and vision of God promised to those who are faithful to His statutes.
Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/021108.shtml
The coming of Christ does not really change the content of the law. The thought that "Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself," is a novel breakdown by Jesus is quickly corrected by reading the passage from Leviticus today.
What does change is that (or who) in which (whom) the law is grounded. In Leviticus, every series of laws is punctuated with the phrase, "I am the Lord." This indicates that it is a command from on high - its repetition a reminder of this fact so that we should not forget from whom this command is coming and why we should listen. It is as we heard on Saturday in Isaiah: "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." As such, its justification seems grounded in the fact that it is a command from the almighty and all knowing God.
The sentiment, "Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy," remains in the Gospel today - in fact, it is echoed elsewhere by Jesus as well: "So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) But listen to how the sentiment is grounded in Jesus' speech: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." Whenever we fed the hungry, clothed the naked, or visited the imprisoned we fed, clothed, or visited Christ. The command has been slightly altered from "Love thy neighbor ... for I am the Lord," to "Love they neighbor ... who IS the Lord." It is not removing morality from its place in God's being, but it seeks to ensure that each person with whom we interact is treated as we would treat Christ as a man.
We no longer obey out of fear or simply duty, we obey out of mutual respect for our sisters and brothers. The law is not to be lived at all times looking at the sky towards God - to live that way could be (if not rightly oriented) presumptuous and could cause us to undervalue God's creation and the goods therein that can help us on our journey to God. The law also cannot be lived when treating the goods of this earth to be ends in themselves alone. Rather, the law is to be lived looking towards God and His perfection through our interactions with others. Through perfecting our interactions with our sisters and brothers on earth, we dispose ourselves well and attain to the blessedness and vision of God promised to those who are faithful to His statutes.