THE NEED TO LOVE THE WORD


SATURDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT   

Deutero 26:16-19; Ps 119:1-2,4-5,7-8; Mt 5:43-48

Our Consecration to the Word

In his sermon on the mount, Our Lord edited the Law of Moses, making it stricter by removing all the human considerations Moses allowed in his administration of the Law to the people of Israel. He carried out these editions on his own authority. His action came across to the Pharisees and scribes as a clear proclamation of his Godhead. The Law of Moses was held sacrosanct as expressing the mind of God; no one has the authority to change or alter any aspect of it with impunity. Our Lord’s proclamation of a new Law that supersedes the Law of Moses calls attention to his divinity. If he is divine, then we have a duty to listen and obey his words. As we have noted earlier this week, his edition of the Law is stricter and evidently impossible for our fallen nature to keep. But we must not make any mistake on the nature of the word of God; both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, the word of God is spirit and life. The word comes with the power and authority of God to effect what it is sent to accomplish. We have heard this from God through the prophet Isaiah: 55:10-11. The word of God represents God at any time, and to have the word in our minds and hearts is to have God in our minds and hearts. The word of God is our gate to communion with God.

Obedience to the word of God is our embrace of the life coming from God to us. When the word is proclaimed to us, an opportunity is provided by God for us to share communion with him. Moses explained this to the people. “Moses said to the people: ‘The Lord your God today commands you to observe these laws and customs; you must keep and observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.” The requirement of falling in love with the word of God is that it may unleash the divine power of truth and life within us. This will not happen if we simply hear and then rush to carry out the injunction in a mindless manner, pretending or intending to show off our ability to keep the word of God. No, we do not keep the word of God; rather, the word of God keeps us. By this, we mean that a good reception of the word of God releases the divine power within us, enabling us to carry out what is commanded or demanded by the heavenly strength the word conveys to us. A process similar to what we experience when we eat natural food; the food unleashes natural strength within, thereby enabling us to carry out our daily works. The word of God is our spiritual life and food; it supports our spiritual life and enables us to carry out spiritual works. This is the meaning of our communion with God. “You have today made this declaration about the Lord: that he will be your God, but only if you follow his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and listen to his voice. And the Lord has today made this declaration about you: that you will be his very own people as he promised you, but only if you keep all his commandments.”

The emphasis is on the communion that rests and flourishes on the covenant of God with his people. A deeper consideration of our Lord’s rendition of the Law reveals an intention to deepen the spiritual aspect of the Law that would attach us more firmly to God. What is important is not a mindless keeping of the Law, which exalts self and not God. So, our Lord’s rendition of the Law makes it impossible for the self to pass the door or gate of eternal communion with God. “You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike.” Our Lord’s words here are remarkable; he addresses them to those who desire to be sons of God. The necessity of emotional or spiritual attachment is evident. All who set out to keep the Law by themselves will surely fail. But those who fall in love with the Word will receive divine strength through the Holy Spirit of communion to keep the Law. Only those who live by the love of the Holy Spirit can fulfil these demands. “You must therefore be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Let us prayer: Turn our hearts to you, eternal Father, and grant that, seeking always the one thing necessary and carrying out works of charity, we may be dedicated to your worship. 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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