WORSHIP AND SERVE GOD ALONE

I SUNDAY OF LENT - Matthew 4:1-11

In the first chapter of Genesis there is an affirmation that can be considered revolutionary: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gn 1:27) The human dignity is founded upon this truth that we are created in the image of God. The same truth is conveyed differently in Genesis 2:7 when we are told that “The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.” We have in us the breath of God, that is His spirit. We are not God, since we are formed from dust, but we carry in us a spark of God, his breath, meaning that we are created in the image of God. We are not the owners of life. Life is a gift from God and we will have to answer for it before God.

Since the beginning, human beings are presented with two realities that become a challenge to them: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gn 2:9). They cannot have both of them. So they are faced with a difficult choice. To facilitate human choice, God gave a clear order: you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Despite God’s command, what was the human choice? They went for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Maybe they thought that by having this one they would know how to get the other as well. Certainly, God was bluffing. Or was he afraid that the humans would become knowledgeable enough to overtake him and then get rid of him? However, God never bluffs. Sooner than later, man is forced to realise his fragility and mortality. And all the knowledge that he manages to acquire sounds empty and useless. Science makes a lot of promises, which many times end up in disaster. There is no way for us to become divine but to recognise life as a gift, accepting God’s path as the only path that leads us towards true life. We are tempted with all kinds of temptations, which have as their foundation the greatest temptation: We become our masters and the masters of the universe, substituting God and claiming the right to establish what is good and evil.

Adam and Eve were promised to “be like gods, knowing good and evil”. In the end, the only knowledge they acquired was that they were naked, and they became ashamed of themselves. Adam and Eve represent humanity - the humanity that chooses the path of death because they choose the path that leads them away from God.

In the Gospel, we are presented with Jesus, the new Adam, who becomes the only way to life. In Adam, we find disobedience and revolt, but in Jesus, we find faithfulness and truth with an unshakeable trust in God. He was tempted but he overcame the temptation and defeated the tempter, who is the prince of darkness and the father of lies (Jn 8:44).

After his baptism, Jesus went into the desert for a time of reflection, searching for a way to carry out his ministry. And he was faced with the three big temptations that have tormented humanity throughout the ages. All of us may be deceived and led astray accepting these proposals as the true way for development and peace. In all three proposals, Jesus is invited to put himself in the centre and to put everything at his service. Why not use his power to solve his problems and find his well-being? Does he need to suffer? He should become famous and be applauded and followed by all. What is wrong with that? Give people what they ask for and they will be devoted to you. Do marvellous things and everybody will recognise you. And most important, get power and wealth. That is the only way to change the world and create a new society. The proposals sound reasonable and true, but Jesus rejected them out of hand because they imply and lead to a rejection of God. In the end, all that selfishness, glory, power and wealth lead to division, discrimination, hatred, violence and war. They are not the road to peace. Jesus chose a different way - the way of service in humility and obedience. Guide your life by the word of God; never put God to the test and worship God alone.

BE HOLY BECAUSE I AM HOLY

VII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 5:38-48

On top of the mount, as the new Moses, surrounded by his disciples, Jesus presents the Law of the New Covenant. As Jesus would say on another occasion, “new wine is put into fresh wineskins” (Mt 9:17). Jesus did not abolish the law of the Old Testament, but built upon it giving a more radical expression to its commandments. In the book of Leviticus - the middle book in the Torah (Pentateuch) - God presents his most radical demand: “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” (Lev 19:2). We may say that this is the greatest commandment and the basis of all other commandments. What does it mean this call to holiness? How can we be holy as God is holy? Is it not beyond our human capability? We must remember that God created us in his image and that image implies his holiness. That holiness must be reflected in our lives, in what we are and in the way we behave. 

According to the book of Leviticus, the demand for holiness is the foundation of a human society that manifests the image of God:

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbour, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord.” (Lev 19:17-18)

In the holiness expected from us, there is no place for hatred and vengeance and we are called to love our neighbour as ourselves. Holiness implies a commitment to build a society that has love as its foundation. I must work for the well-being of others; it is then that we worship the true God. Jesus makes these fundamental demands even more explicit: He forbids all vengeance and any kind of violence against others. Better to do as he did: he preferred to suffer violence at the hands of his enemies and, then, asked the Father to forgive them. To the old commandment - “be holy for I am holy”, Jesus gives a new formulation: “be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” And this perfection manifests itself in his boundless love. He cares for all: “he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good”. So he expects the same behaviour from his children. To hatred they must respond with love: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way, you will be sons of your Father in heaven”.

Is it possible to behave like that? On our own, only with our human strength, we will never be able to pursue this hard road. However, God dwells in us, filling us with his Spirit, who guides and strengthens us. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote: “Didn’t you realise that you were God’s temple and that the Spirit of God was living among you? “ (1 Co 3:16). Let us ask the Holy Spirit who dwells in us to guide and strengthen us to walk always on the way that leads us to perfection and holiness.

YOU CAN KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS

VI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 5:17-37

According to this Sunday’s first reading, which comes from the book of Sirach, we are free to choose between good and evil, to follow the commandments or to reject them. 

If you wish, you can keep the commandments,

  to behave faithfully is within your power. (Sir 15:15)

We should not blame others for the wrong decisions we have made. Nowadays, there is a huge wave of people who present themselves as victims, claiming to have the right to compensation for the wrongs of the past. They live complaining and accusing others as if the others were supposed to live their lives in their place. However, blaming others for the situation we are in will not take us out of it. We must accept responsibility for our own lives and the consequences of our actions. God does not lead us to sin, but calls us to do good and live a responsible life.

In the Gospel, Jesus deals with our attitude towards de commandments. Paul wrote to the Galatians that “Christ has set us free” (Gal 5:1). For those who understand all laws as oppressive, that statement may sound like an affirmation that we don’t need the law anymore. In that case, we may be surprised by Jesus’ words in Matthew: “Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them.” As Jesus speaks about them, the commandments are guidelines to keep us on the right path the path that leads to life and salvation. 

Concerning the commandments, Jesus warns us that we should not imitate the scribes and the Pharisees: “For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” They cared about the law and tried to keep it with all rigour. We may say that, about the law, they were fundamentalists. In that attitude, they forgot that the law is at the service of man, keeping with his dignity and protecting justice and peace. Before God, the inner attitude is the most important and righteous behaviour must come from the heart. If the heart gets corrupted, the external fulfilment of the law becomes an act of hypocrisy. The commandments must be kept with a pure heart because the pure in heart shall see God (Mt 5:8). The transgression of all the commandments begins in the heart and may be carried out in external actions that will be punishable in courts of law. Jesus is most radical in his demand to comply with the commandments in the most hidden recesses of our souls.

SALT AND LIGHT OF THE WORLD

V SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 5:13-16

Defining his disciples' role in the world, Jesus told them:  “You are the salt of the earth”, and “You are the light of the world”. As salt, Christians must give the taste of God and preserve the earth from corruption. The society in which we live has lost the taste of everything that is divine, like truth, justice, peace and love. It has been corrupted by all kinds of evil, like the insatiable thirst for power and hunger for wealth, which blind us and leads us to roads of oppression and exploitation. This earth in which we live is rotten with corruption, giving way to the wildest desires of a heart full of lust. Christians must be an antidote to decay. Woe to the earth, if the Christians themselves become corrupted as well. Then, they are “good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.” Time and again, Christians have been carried away by the powers of darkness, accepting and promoting ideologies that reject God’s plan for humanity. The concerted efforts to destroy the family, despise marriage and promote gender ideology has made inroads in the Church. Under the new cancel culture, many of the true values are banished. However, if the Church stops being the salt of the earth, she becomes unfaithful to Christ and is on the way to self-destruction.

Jesus insists on our duty to become role models for the society in which we live: “You are the light of the world.” And Jesus stresses two points about the light: we cannot hide and we should not keep the light to ourselves. It is not that we must put on a show and call everybody’s attention as those who wish to become famous at all costs; but we cannot hide, since we live in the world with all the others who surround us. If we behave like hypocrites, we will be unmasked and despoiled of our duplicity. When that happens, as it is happening, we must recognise our sin and repent. When depravity is brought into the open, all of us must search our souls and renew our hearts to expurgate them from evil, and evil that destroys the lives of many others.

Despite all that, Christians are called to show forth the light for others to find the way to life and salvation. 

Psalm 112 reminds us of our duty:

The good man is a light in the darkness for the upright.

He is a light in the darkness for the upright:

  he is generous, merciful and just.

The good man takes pity and lends,

  he conducts his affairs with honour.