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 |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Sirach 15:15-20
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!
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
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
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
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
[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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