THE EAR OF THE HEART
What is impossible to humans is possible to God and those who have faith in God. God gives us the grace to love as He loves, to forgive as He forgives, to think as He thinks, and to act as He acts. The Rule of St Benedict, written as a guide for life in a religious community, opens with these words: "Listen carefully, my son, to the Master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart." The readings today talk about God's law. In Deuteronomy, the message from Moses was to observe carefully all that was commanded of them in God's name. Thus they would draw close to God and be blessed. In today's Gospel Jesus teaches us the right attitude towards the law of God.
Do we view God's law negatively or positively? The English word "obedience" is from a Latin word meaning "to listen." Obedience refers to a willingness to listen to each other, and to what God says to us in our individual lives, through the people around us, and in our needs.
In the illustration Jesus brings out in today's Gospel (Matt. 5), He says that He had not come to abolish the law found in the Old Testament. That law was an expression of God's will for His people. But because it was articulated necessarily in human words, it was an imperfect expression of God's will. The spirit behind the law is what counts, and the spirit is found in the love of God and neighbor. Jesus fulfilled the law first by His own supreme example of love and the obedience He had to his Heavenly Father.
Jesus made it very clear that the essence of God's law -- His commandments and way of life -- must be fulfilled. Jesus taught at the Sermon on the Mount about reverence for God's law: reverence for God Himself, for the Lord's Day, reverence or respect for parents, respect for life, for property, for another person's good name, respect for oneself and for one's neighbor, lest wrong or hurtful desires come upon us. Respect for God's commandments teaches us the way of love: love of God and love of neighbor. What is impossible to humans is possible to God and those who have faith in God. God gives us the grace to love as He loves, to forgive as He forgives, to think as He thinks, and to act as He acts. The Lord loves righteousness and hates sinfulness. As followers we must love the commandments and hate every form of sin.
I would like to end with a line drawn from one of John F. Kennedy famous words from his inaugural address that is fitting with today's reflection: Ask not what the law demands that you do, but ask what you can do to fulfill the spirit of the law!