The offsprings of the Old man and the New Man

Monday, fifth week of lent/2024
Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP

Offsprings of Old man and New Man

To be able to live the new life within the new Covenant in Jesus Christ, the old life must come to an end. The distinctive difference between the old man and the new man is the focus of desires. The old man and all who live by him have their desires focussed on the satisfaction of self. On the other hand, the new man and those living by him desires only to fulfil God's holy will. Thus, the old man and his offspring obey the law of sin and death. Living for self alone breeds sins, and sin causes death. So, the old man and all living by him are dead and harbingers of death to others. They are adept at manipulating the Law of God to perpetuate their interest and selfish desires. An example of this skill is the treatment the two old judges of Israel in Babylon meted out to Susanna, wife of Joachim, employing the Law of Moses as given in the first reading. “Two elderly men had been selected from the people that year to act as judges. Of such the Lord said, ‘Wickedness has come to Babylon through the elders and judges posing as guides to the people.’” Wickedness and death multiply wherever self is on the throne of conscious desires. Grace must dethrone self to prevent many people from suffering injustice and cruelty. “Spawn of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you, lust has led your heart astray! This is how you have been behaving with the daughters of Israel and they were too frightened to resist; but here is a daughter of Judah who could not stomach your wickedness.” We must be on our guard against self, for evil spreads in the families and communities at the ascendance of self on the throne of conscious desire.

The new man and his offsprings have their focus on the fulfilment of the will of God. This desire to do the will of God is the true spirit of the Law of God. The old man and the new man cannot coexist; one must die at the expense of the other. “Unless a wheat grain falls to the ground and dies it cannot bear much fruit.” Self must fall to the ground and die for the new man, born of the Spirit of God, to grow and flourish. The new man is born of God, nourished and protected by God. “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit.” The new man and his offspring live by the Spirit of the Law and keep the Law of God summed up by charity. The life of the new man, ruled by the word of God, confounds the wicked who live by the darkness of self and sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the principle of the new man, applies the Law in charity in the gospel; this founded those who live by the old man in their thirst for blood and death. “If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there.” The Good News invites us to condemn the old man in us, with its desire for self-gratification, so that we may live as children of the new man. 

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, to pass from former ways to newness of life, that we may be made ready for the glory of the heavenly kingdom.