Catechism Links[1]
CCC 577-582: Jesus and the Law
CCC 1961-1964 The old Law
CCC 2064-2068: The Decalogue in
the tradition of the Church
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| “Allegory of Wisdom” by Orazio Samacchini, ca. 1560’s |
Reading 1: Sirach 15:15-20
If
you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you;
if
you trust in God, you too shall live;
he
has set before you fire and water
to
whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.
Before
man are life and death, good and evil,
whichever
he chooses shall be given him.
Immense
is the wisdom of the Lord;
he
is mighty in power, and all-seeing.
The
eyes of God are on those who fear him;
he
understands man’s every deed.
No
one does he command to act unjustly,
to
none does he give license to sin.
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Commentary on
Sir 15:15-20
The son of Sirach emphasizes the gift of “free will” in the
creation of mankind. “If you choose […] you shall live.” God has given
each person choices, good and bad, and does not withhold either. Even though he
is all-powerful, he does not require a person to choose only the good. Likewise
he does not influence a person to act unjustly and his moral law is applied
equally to all (“to none does he give license to sin”).
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed
are they whose way is blameless,
who
walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed
are they who observe his decrees,
who
seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who
follow the law of the Lord!
You
have commanded that your precepts
be
diligently kept.
Oh,
that I might be firm in the ways
of
keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who
follow the law of the Lord!
Be
good to your servant, that I may live
and
keep your words.
Open
my eyes, that I may consider
the
wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who
follow the law of the Lord!
Instruct
me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,
that
I may exactly observe them.
Give
me discernment, that I may observe your law
and
keep it with all my heart.
R. Blessed are they who
follow the law of the Lord!
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Commentary on
Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18,
33-34
Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem. Each of the eight verses of the
first strophe begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (aleph). Each
verse of the second strophe begins with the second letter (beth), and so
on for all 22 letters of the alphabet.
The entire work is in praise of the Law, and the joys to be found
in keeping it. It is not "legalism," but a love and desire for the
word of God in Israel's Law, which is the expression of the Lord's revelation
of himself and his will for man.
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Reading 2: 1 Corinthians 2:6-10
Brothers
and sisters:
We
speak a wisdom to those who are mature,
not
a wisdom of this age,
nor
of the rulers of this age who are passing away.
Rather,
we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden,
which
God predetermined before the ages for our glory,
and
which none of the rulers of this age knew;
for,
if they had known it,
they
would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But
as it is written:
What eye has not seen, and
ear has not heard,
and what has not entered
the human heart,
what God has prepared for
those who love him,
this
God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
For
the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
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Commentary on
1 Cor 2:6-10
In this passage the Apostle
qualifies his earlier statement (“I did not come with sublimity of words or
of wisdom” 1 Corinthians 2:1). Here
he speaks of a wisdom of a higher plane, not as the Greeks characterized
wisdom. This wisdom comes from God through his Son, revealed only in him. It
was hidden from the rulers of his age (the Chief Priests and Roman Prefect) or
they would never have crucified Jesus.
Concluding, St. Paul paraphrases Isaiah 64:4. “Isaiah marvels that no
one has ever seen or heard a God like Yahweh, who is always faithful to deliver
those who hope in him. The final words of this quotation are not from Isaiah
but seemingly from Sirach 1:10, where God’s unsearchable
wisdom is a gift promised to those who love him. Paul draws Isaiah and Sirach
together to stress that what God has long prepared in secret he has now made
known to the world through the spirit (CCC 1027).”[5]
CCC: 1 Cor 2:7-16 221; 1 Cor
2:7-9 1998; 1 Cor
2:8 446, 498, 598; 1 Cor
2:9 1027; 1 Cor
2:10-15 2038; 1 Cor
2:10-11 152
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Gospel: Matthew 5:17-37
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.
I
tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you
will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You
have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You
shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But
I say to you,
whoever
is angry with brother
will
be liable to judgment;
and
whoever says to brother, ‘Raqa,’
will
be answerable to the Sanhedrin;
and
whoever says, ‘You fool,’
will
be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore,
if you bring your gift to the altar,
and
there recall that your brother
has
anything against you,
leave
your gift there at the altar,
go
first and be reconciled with your brother,
and
then come and offer your gift.
Settle
with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise
your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and
the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and
you will be thrown into prison.
Amen,
I say to you,
you
will not be released until you have paid the last penny.
“You
have heard that it was said,
You
shall not commit adultery.
But
I say to you,
everyone
who looks at a woman with lust
has
already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If
your right eye causes you to sin,
tear
it out and throw it away.
It
is better for you to lose one of your members
than
to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.
And
if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut
it off and throw it away.
It
is better for you to lose one of your members
than
to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
“It
was also said,
Whoever
divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.
But
I say to you,
whoever
divorces his wife - unless the marriage is unlawful -
causes
her to commit adultery,
and
whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
“Again
you have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
Do
not take a false oath,
but
make good to the Lord all that you vow.
But
I say to you, do not swear at all;
not
by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
nor
by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor
by Jerusalem
Do
not swear by your head,
for
you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Let
your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,' and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything
more is from the evil one.”
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Commentary on
Mt 5:17-37
In this early encounter between
Jesus’ mission and the Law of Moses, we are told that Jesus came to “fulfill”
the law, to bring it to perfection as the messiah. He supports the rabbinical
teaching of the time, which separates the 613 individual precepts of the law
found in the Pentateuch into “great and small,” based upon their seriousness,
when he refers to breaking the least of the commandments. The passage is
continued in almost Mosaic style by saying that those who follow the law will
be great in heaven. This draws a distinction from those who would break the law
being least in heaven.
Those who believed that Jesus
came to destroy the Jewish faith and laws are refuted. The Lord tells them that
he did not come to destroy the law, even though he disagreed with the way some
of those laws were being implemented. Rather he came to fulfill it, essentially
to give the law a reinterpretation through his own revelation.
Verses 20-26 give the first of six examples in St.
Matthew’s Gospel of conduct demanded of the Christian disciple. The first three
take a commandment of Mosaic Law and deepen the meaning. Here the Lord takes “You
shall not kill” (quoted from Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17) to a
new level. He tells us that even anger brings a judgment from God. He traces
the logic from thought of vulgar or abusive words to violent action. In this
translation, the Greek word "raqa" is used to indicate deep
insult. "Where the Jewish Law forbids the action, Christian law
forbids the antecedents as well. The passage continues with the remedy for this
action and a foundation for the sacrament of reconciliation. He instructs us to
be reconciled with a person with whom we have bad feelings before coming to the
altar. The consequences of failing to do so, he warns, are judgment and
punishment.
In verses 27-32 “The Old Testament commandment that a bill of
divorce be given to the woman assumes the legitimacy of divorce itself. It is
this that Jesus denies. (Unless the marriage is unlawful): this "exceptive
clause," as it is often called, occurs also in Matthew 19:9, where
the Greek is slightly different. There are other sayings of Jesus about divorce
that prohibit it absolutely (see Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18; cf 1 Cor 7:10, 11b), and most scholars agree
that they represent the stand of Jesus. Matthew's "exceptive clauses"
are understood by some as a modification of the absolute prohibition. It seems,
however, that the unlawfulness that Matthew gives as a reason why a marriage
must be broken refers to a situation peculiar to his community: the violation
of Mosaic Law forbidding marriage between persons of certain blood and/or legal
relationship (Lev 18:6-18).
Marriages of that sort were regarded as incest (porneia), but some rabbis allowed
Gentile converts to Judaism who had contracted such marriages to remain in
them. Matthew's "exceptive clause" is against such permissiveness for
Gentile converts to Christianity; cf the similar prohibition of porneia in Acts 15:20, 29. In this interpretation, the
clause constitutes no exception to the absolute prohibition of divorce when the
marriage is lawful.”[6]
Concluding in verses 33-37, Jesus
paraphrases the Old Testament (see Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11; Leviticus 19:12). He is
attacking the practices of guaranteeing one’s promise by calling on God to
witness the pledge. The Lord tells his disciples that no oaths should be made,
that what they say should need no guarantee beyond their own character (“Let
your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil
one”). This last reference speaks of the implied sinfulness of mankind in
oath-breaking.
CCC: Mt 5:17-19 577, 592, 1967; Mt
5:17 2053; Mt 5:20 2054; Mt
5:21-22 2054, 2257; Mt 5:21 2262, 2302; Mt
5:22-39 2262; Mt 5:22 678, 1034, 2302; Mt
5:23-24 2608, 2792, 2841,
2845; Mt 5:24 1424; Mt
5:27-28 2330, 2336, 2380; Mt 5:28 1456, 2513, 2528; Mt
5:29-30 226; Mt 5:29 1034; Mt
5:31-32 2382; Mt 5:32 2380; Mt
5:33-34 581, 2141, 2153; Mt 5:33 592, 2463; Mt 5:37 2153, 2338, 2466
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OR
Shorter Form: Matthew 5:20-22a, 27-28, 33-34a, 37
Jesus
said to his disciples:
“I
tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you
will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You
have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You
shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But
I say to you,
whoever
is angry with brother
will
be liable to judgment.
“You
have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.
But
I say to you,
everyone
who looks at a woman with lust
has
already committed adultery with her in his heart.
“Again
you have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
Do
not take a false oath,
but
make good to the Lord all that you vow.
But
I say to you, do not swear at all.
Let
your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything
more is from the evil one.”
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Commentary on
Mt 5:20-22a, 27-28, 33-34a,
37
This shorter form contracts the
Gospel message to emphasize only the instructions of the Lord, not the
supporting emphasis. In an unvarnished way, we are told we must be holier than
the Pharisees, who held to the letter of the Law of Moses, but were blind to
the spirit. We must go beyond the most egregious violations of the law (e.g. “Thou
shall not kill”) and adjust our attitudes to the love Christ exemplifies.
Similarly, with the law against adultery, the goal must be toward inner purity
of thought. And finally, truth and sincerity must always be demonstrated by the
faithful Christian follower.
CCC: Mt 5:20 2054; Mt
5:21-22 2054, 2257; Mt
5:21 2262, 2302; Mt
5:22-39 2262; Mt
5:22 678, 1034, 2302; Mt
5:27-28 2330, 2336, 2380; Mt
5:28 1456, 2513, 2528; Mt
5:33-34 581, 2141, 2153; Mt
5:33 592, 2463; Mt
5:37 2153, 2338, 2466
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Homily:
We
pause to consider the lessons to be learned from the selections of sacred
scripture just proclaimed, and how the principal lesson taught in the Gospel
has been applied by the Church in its Code of Canon Law. Most secular lawyers
would find the way Canon Law is applied flies in the face of logic. Unlike secular law (civil and
constitutional), the application of Canon Law is not affected by precedent, or
decisions made by the Church about similar situations. Each application of Canon Law is interpreted
on its own merits and in the light of the love Christ has for all of his
people. The primary reason for this
method of interpreting Canon Law is stated in the last of the (Canon 1752) “…keeping in mind the salvation of souls,
which in the Church must always be the supreme law.”
The
text of the reading from Sirach makes it clear that each of us was created with
free will. That is, we are in no way
“required” to choose God, nor are we required to choose to keep God’s
laws. Each of us is offered the choice
between accepting what God offers or declining.
This understanding is an early indication that we are not slaves of God,
we are indeed created in his “divine
image” (Genesis 1:26-27). We know further from Sirach that, though God
did not create things for evil purposes, choices people make nonetheless exist,
and are not forcefully prohibited by the Lord.
That is, we may choose evil over good, death over life.
It
is because of this great offer of freedom that the Law, the Prophets, and the
Messiah have been given to us. How would
we know good from evil had not the Law been offered through Moses (see Romans 5:12-13)?
How could we understand how the Law was to be applied without the
Prophets, who also pointed to the ultimate expression of the Law in Christ
Jesus? And finally, the entirety of the
Law and Prophets, all of the wisdom provided through man’s thought, codified in
ancient scripture, is reinterpreted in Christ, who comes at last to reveal
God’s will in his very presence.
The
Gospel of St. Matthew shows us most clearly
how God’s will is expressed in Christ.
He tells us that our goal is not to be like that of the pharisaic
legalists who believed that by simply observing the letter of Mosaic Law scrupulously
they would achieve salvation. No, rather
we must strive for interior holiness, a purity of mind and emotion that
conforms itself to the mind of Jesus himself.
That is the bar the Lord sets for the faithful Christian.
He
tells his followers that they must go beyond the letter of the law, and seek
the spirit of God’s law. It is God’s
will that we should be like his Son, Jesus, in all things. When we ask ourselves the cliché question:
“What would Jesus do,” we must go further.
We must ask, “How would Jesus love?”
All our motives must start with that question. Only in that way can we be the light and salt
for the world he calls us to be.
Today
we see Christ’s wisdom overshadow the wisdom of the wise, as St. Paul
says. He bids us to be like him in
loving all those we meet, and to act upon those impulses. In this way we use God’s gift of free will as
he would like us to, and will come at last to the reward he promised.
Pax
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic
Directory, Published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014
[2]
The picture is “Allegory of Wisdom” by Orazio Samacchini, ca. 1560’s
[4]
The readings are taken from the New
American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were
developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by
USCCB and is for private use only.
[5]
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco , CA. pp. 287
[6]
See NAB Footnote on Matthew 5:27ff
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