GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 14TH JUNE 2017
WEDNESDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING: 2Corinthians 3:4-11
PSALM: Psalm 99:5-9
GOSPEL: Matthew 5:17-19
THEME: THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW
Rabbi Chanina is quoted as saying, “When two sit together and pronounce the words of the Law, the shekinah( the divine presence) is among them” (Pirke Abot 3:2). This quote captures the high regard the Jewish society have for the Torah and for that matter the Jewish Scriptures.
Jesus himself, a Jew, shows deep respect for the Law when he says “For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” (Mt. 5:18). However, before making this statement, Jesus makes an important point: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt 5:17).
The word “fulfill” as translated from the Greek “pleroo” carries with it the sense of making full that which was not yet full, i.e. bringing to completion that which was previously not complete. However, the completion that Jesus brings is not an additional law but the Spirit of the law. It is the infusion of this Spirit into a believer that enables him/her to live to the full the demands of the law.
Paul, in the First Reading, refers to this ‘completion’ as “… a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit”. He goes ahead and says “for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2Cor 3:6).
The Spirit of the Law is that which makes a person to act not because of an external law written in books but because of an internal law written on one’s heart. In other words, I do the good that I do not because someone or something, external to me, is policing me or asking me to do it but because I am moved from within to do it. Doing what is right becomes my new nature, thanks to the covenant of the Spirit. This would explain why there are some illiterates who cannot read the “Law or Prophets” but are able to live to the full what is prescribed there. They have within them the Spirit of the law. This is what brings a person a glory that surpasses that of Moses.
Let us therefore pray to God to pour into our hearts the Spirit who enables us to love God for who He is and to love your neighbour as ourselves.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, fill me with your Spirit so that I may love God and my neighbour not because a law says I should do so but because I want to do so. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).