Grace and freedom are found in fulfilling God's law
Sister Agnes Fischer
Just after a beautiful lesson on the beatitudes, Jesus talks about the law, about anger, about lawsuits, about adultery and divorce, and about oaths.
How is he not “abolishing” but “fulfilling” the law? Could it be in his profound union, his loving engagement with people? Is this what “being great in the kingdom of heaven” means?
Is not this the Good News? The God born in a manger enters the messiness of life in all its dimensions, seeking to heal and save. This God offers a life deep and wide, where light shines into every nook and cranny, not a puny, flat life reduced to avoiding the “big sins”. Jesus offers us a new way of life, not rejecting tradition, but building upon it. It is a way of life that demands more and promises more. It is life abundant.
- To what is Jesus challenging me?
- Is there more love in the world because of my being around?
"The commandments will save you. Trust in God, you shall live." (Sirach 15:15; 1st Reading) Trusting in the Wisdom of God, whose Laws are Love, Life, and Light, humanity can live in peace and harmony. That choice is in our hands. If we can hear -- and live, or as JESUS says, "FULFILL" the message of the prophets (Matt. 5: 17), the Love, Life, and Light of God are fulfilled in-with-through-among us, as well.
And So We Pray: for ears, eyes, hearts, and wills of prophets, that the Vision JESUS lived, suffered, and died for, rises up on this Earth, Here and Now, in This Time and Place, through us-through Him, who is the CHRIST, and through the CHRIST-Spirit. Amen.