LIFE OR DEATH FROM THE WORD


FRIDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT   

Ezek 18:21-28; Ps 130; Mt 5:20-26

The Choice of Life over Death

The word of God is the gift of God to us. The gift remains a gift inasmuch as we receive it as the gift of God. If we fail or refuse to receive the word of God as a divine gift, then it is no longer a gift to us, but rather a curse. Just as God informed the Israelites through Moses, in Deuteronomy 30:19, that the words spoken to them constitute life or death before them. The words would give them life if they obey, and death if they disobey. Thus, both life and death come from Yahweh as his divine will, though not as life and death, but as divine goodwill for his creatures. The divine will evoke death only in the one who rejects the blessing of communion with God. God made us for Himself, that we may dwell with him always. The attainment of this end is the fullness of life for us. Our spiritual death is to miss this desired communion with God, both in this temporal life and in the life to come. In fact, the life to come is the aforesaid communion with God, which we commence here by a wholehearted obedience of faith to the word of God.

Abraham and the other patriarchs of the Old Testament lived on because of their faithful obedience to God's word. So, we must understand the words of God revealed to us as an open door or gate to communion with God. This explanation throws light on the passage from the prophet Ezekiel, concerning the conversion of a sinner and his embrace of life. “If the wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. All the sins he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practised.” The death that comes at the wake of our rejection of the word of God is not the intention of God for sending his word, but a result of our choice to refuse the gift of life. If life is rejected, what remains is death. The one who refuses life invariably chooses death. Therefore, the Lord continues: “But if the upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man and practises every kind of filth, is he to live? All the integrity he has practised shall be forgotten from then on; but this is because he himself has broken faith and committed sin, and for this he shall die.” The direct or immediate cause of death in the sinner is sin, which is a rejection of the word of God, that is, life. We cannot say that God killed the sinner, but that the sinner chose to die by choosing to disobey the word of God. Death is a consequence of our choice.

It is not the will of God that we should die, but that we should live with him and share his life eternally. He sent his word to us for this reason: to confer life on those who dwell in the shadow of death, who walk the path of darkness and sin. Every human soul yearns for God, often unconsciously, for he made us for Himself. “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice! O let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading.” The Word became man to save us from the power of sin, death, and evil. He enforced the Law and the Prophets by giving us His Holy Spirit that we may walk safely on the path of life, safeguarded by the Law and the Prophets. “You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill, he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother ‘Fool’ he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him ‘Renegade’ he will answer for it in hell fire.” Is the Lord making the Law stricter? Yes, for it was never meant to be kept by the fallen human nature but given to make us open our hearts to the reception of the grace of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, he reveals the pitfalls on the spiritual path to God. The precept of charity is about loving God with all our hearts, minds, and wills, and looking out for the good of our brothers and sisters. Our Lord recast the Law in a positive light; it is not about not doing, but being intentional about doing good to our neighbours. We must let the light of God shine on our neighbours.  

Let us pray: Grant that your faithful, O Lord, we pray, may be so conformed to the paschal observances, that the bodily discipline now solemnly begun may bear fruit in the souls of all. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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