REFLECTIONS TODAY

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a lot of talk on the “new normal.” The important question that people were asking was not anymore the lamenting, “How can this be?” but the anxious, “How will it be?” 

Like the past world wars, the effects of this war against the virus have enduring impact on humanity. There would be new ways of doing things in work, education, travel, and social life. 

In the context of the new normal, the precepts of the Lord remain true and valid. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus refers to the Law of Moses — “You have heard that it was said…” (Mt 5:21, 27) and then says, “But I say to you…” (Mt 5:22, 28). He does not change the Law but gives it a more radical interpretation. 

Was this interpretation of the same law the new normal for the community of Matthew to whom this Gospel was preached? 

Like the crisis of Covid-19, there is no change in the law, just in the way of doing things. 

How well do I know God’s commandments? Do I apply these precepts in my life according to how Jesus presented them to his disciples?
 

First Reading • Dt 4:1, 5-9

Moses spoke to the people and said: “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 

Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the Lord, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, ‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today? 

“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”

Gospel • Matthew 5:17-19 

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. 

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.

Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.