6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Mt 5:17-37 (Long Version); Mt:20-22, 27-28, 33-34 (Short Version)
Theme: The Law of Moses vis-à-vis the Law of God
The Talmud tells a story of Rabbi Hillel, who lived around the time of Jesus. A pagan came to him saying that he would convert to Judaism if Hillel could teach him the whole of the Torah or the Law of Moses while standing on one foot. Rabbi Hillel replied, "What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole Torah; the rest is just commentary. Go and study it." (Talmud Shabbat 31a).
The Law of Moses or the Torah are contained in the first five books of Hebrew Bible. The 10 Commandments contain the basic tenets of the Mosaic Law --- the first three commandments pertain to loving God (There shall be no other gods except Yahweh, do not to use the name of God in vain, to keep the Sabbath Day holy); while the remaining commandments addresses our relationship with fellow human beings (with parents, brothers/sisters, neighbors and kinsfolks). The scribes and Pharisees tried to spell out, in intricate detail, how the laws should be lived in everyday life into 613 small precepts. The Mosaic Law touches all aspects of the Jewish life --- Moral laws (on murder, theft, honesty, adultery); social laws (on property, inheritance, marriage and divorce);dietary or food laws (on what is clean and unclean [kosher or halal food]); purity laws (for hygienic purposes); priestly and ritualistic laws regarding religious feasts (like thanksgiving and sin offerings on the Day of Atonement, Passover, Sabbath, Feast of Harvest, and Feast of Tents, etc..). Many of the Mosaic Laws begins with the negative: “You shall not kill…. Not steal… not commit adultery, not lie, etc…” The Mosaic Law gives the minimum guidance to follow, to obey in the fear of the Lord, in order to be in the right path.
However, in the New Testament, with the coming of Jesus Christ, a new covenant is established, not based on obligations to the precepts and laws, but in the Spirit of God that dwells within us by our relationship with Son of God, Jesus Christ. That is why St Paul says in his Letter to the Romans, “the nature of the Mosaic Law was prohibitive and negative; whoever transgresses the Law and the commandments is considered sinful and leads to death. Whereas, in the New Covenant with Jesus, we are freed from the clutches of the Law, and gives Life in the Spirit (Romans Chapters 7:14 – Romans 8:1following); the new commandment of Jesus is positive… to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself… these are contained in the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes embodies the Spirit of the Law and touches the human person with feelings and emotions. The person of the Beatitudes is: poor in spirit (not envious or covetous of others’ goods); humble and meek (not arrogant and boastful); comforting (not violent and hurting others); treats with justice and fairness(not discriminating and bullying); merciful (not vengeful); clean and innocent of heart (not malicious) a peacemaker (not troublemaker); willing to suffer for the sake of another (not making others suffer for his own advantage only). To live the Beatitudes is to live the Christ-like attitude; hence, to express and experience the beatitudes is to incarnate the spirit of the law; and then the Christian life brings blessing to others.
The Gospel invites us to build our attitudes based on the Beatitudes. The attitude is defined as atendencyororientation to act in a certain way,based on one’s value system. Our attitude reflects how we think, feel, and behave in a situation. In the second reading (1 Cor 2:6-10), St Paul invites us to follow “the Spirit that reaches to the depths of everything, even the depths of God… that is the wisdom of God.” If we follow the Law of Love that underlies the Gospel of Jesus, then we have discovered the spring that evokes the fresh waters that gives life. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, St Pauls enumerates the attitude of the Beatitudes: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth.”
It is hard for anyone to memorize the 613 precepts of the Mosaic Law; or to remember even the 10 Commandments; or even the simplified 2 commandments: “to love God and to love our neighbor.” There is only one word that summarizes the whole law: Jesus. Know Jesus, follow Jesus, and love Jesus. Surely you have fulfilled the real spirit of the Law.