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.

BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT

IV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 5:1-12a

Our world is ruled by powerful people who are proud of themselves and their achievements. Power, wealth and fame are the supreme values that guide their lives. And they count themselves among the most blessed since they yield the power to bend society to their will. They behave as if they are gods. However, all that is no more than a delusion. Despite all the efforts, “we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth” (Is 26:18). The arrogance of the powerful leads to oppression, violence and war.

The road that takes us to the Kingdom of God, where we will find rest and peace, is completely different. The prophet Zephaniah advises us: 

    “Seek integrity,

    seek humility:

    you may perhaps find shelter

    on the day of the anger of the Lord.” (Zephaniah 2:3)

To find shelter and be protected from the evil that will assail us, we must approach the Lord with humility. At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus puts forward the way to receive and enjoy God’s blessings. The Beatitudes are like the Magna Carta that guides us to be partakers of the Kingdom of God.

Behaving like the new Moses, Jesus “went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”

We may be surprised and even shocked: How can the meek and the merciful be blessed? How can the humble be happy? For the wisdom of the world, this teaching is foolish and contrary to common sense. Is Jesus glorifying poverty and reviling wealth?

What does it mean: “Blessed are the poor in spirit”? Poor are those who depend on others to survive. From them, they receive food, clothing and a place to stay. Every day, he has to reach out to others and implore their mercy. We must do the same before God. We are never self-sufficient. Alone, on our own, we cannot find salvation. We must reach out to God and allow ourselves to be loved and redeemed by Him. We must recognise our frailty, our shortcomings, our failures and our sin. Then, we can ask for healing and redemption.

Let’s heed the prophet’s advice: 

Seek the Lord,

all you, the humble of the earth,

who obey his commands.

Seek integrity,

seek humility. (Zephaniah)

And let’s learn with Paul: “The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom. As scripture says: if anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord.” (1 Co 1:29-31).

THE WORD OF GOD

 III SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 4:12-23

Pope Francis has chosen the third Sunday in ordinary time as the Sunday of the Word of God. For this year, he has given us the following theme: “We proclaim to you what we have seen” (1 Jn 1:3). The encounter with Christ changes our life forever and we feel impelled to speak out, thus giving witness to Jesus Christ. The preaching of the Gospel is not based on dreams; it is the result of a profound experience: “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life” — that’s what “we proclaim”. The celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God makes us aware of our duty to evangelise and of the urgency we feel to give witness to Jesus Christ.

At the beginning of his gospel, John tells us that Jesus is the eternal Word of God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Jn 1:1). Thus, celebrating the Word of God, we are celebrating Jesus Christ. He is the one who reveals to us the hidden mysteries of God: “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” (Jn 1:18 NRSV).

The Holy Scriptures are the privileged medium through which we can hear the voice of Jesus Christ, that is the Word who reveals to us the secrets of God and his loving plan of salvation. The Scriptures take us to Christ, in whom we find salvation: Indeed, the Holy Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tm 3:15-16). Saint Jerome said that “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”

**

In this Sunday’s gospel, Matthew presents the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus left home in Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum near the lake, bordering Zebulun and Naphtali. His presence, his actions and his preaching became a light of hope: “The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light”.

“From that moment Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’” It was a very simple message that concentrated on the essential: the coming of the Kingdom of God, that is the fulfilment of God’s promise of salvation, and the attitude needed to be accepted in that kingdom, repentance. To accompany Jesus in the establishment of God’s Kingdom, one needs conversion, meaning a new set of values and attitudes. God must become the central point of reference in our lives.

To carry out his project, Jesus looked for followers, collaborators and disciples. He chose the ones he wanted. In the last supper, Jesus would tell his disciples: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you” (Jn 15:16).

Then, Matthew summarises the ministry of Jesus with the following sentence: “He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people.”

THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD

II SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - John 1:29-34

In this Sunday’s gospel, we are presented with John the Baptist’s witness to Jesus Christ. First of all, we must admire John’s sincerity and truthfulness: “I did not know him myself”. However, he was well aware that he was given the mission to reveal Him. His ministry had no other purpose but to lead people to Jesus. In a way, John should submit to Jesus because, despite coming after him, he existed before him. John recognises Jesus' precedence, as the one who was before time.

Then, we may ask ourselves how was he able to recognise Jesus as the one who was before him? God gave him a clear sign: a dove comes down and hovers over its nest. so the Spirit came down on him from heaven and rested on him. It reminds us of the Spirit at the beginning of creation: “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gn 1:2). Jesus comes to be the new Adam, and the Spirit rests on him. After Jesus’ baptism, “a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:17) That’s why the Holy Spirit has his abode in Jesus. And John bears witness to Jesus saying: “Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God” or “this is the Son of God.” (ESV, Jn 1:34).

Having recognised Jesus as the Chosen One of God, that is as the Messiah, he announces  the role that Jesus is going to fulfil: 

“Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”

We may be puzzled by such a title, needing explanation. What does it mean to call Jesus the Lamb of God?

It comes immediately to mind the Passover lamb, whose blood was put on the lintel of the houses as a sign of belonging to the people of God whom God sets free from slavery in Egypt. Jesus is the true lamb, whose blood is shed for us to be reconciled with God.

The lamb brings to mind as well the Servant of Yahweh. Indeed, he is “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter” and keeps silent (Is 53:7). The Servant of Yahweh accepts his suffering and death for the sake of the people:

“upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.” (Is 53:5)

“he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people” (Is 53:8).

Finally, the title “Lamb” is given to Christ in the book of revelation. He alone was found worthy of reading the scroll of the mysterious plans of God and thousands upon thousands sang in his praise:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honour and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:12)

Through his blood, the Lamb takes away the sin of the world and prepares for himself a bride - the people of God -  

“and his Bride has made herself ready;

it was granted her to clothe herself

with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” (Rev 19:7-8)

The kings of the earth who follow the beast will make war on the Lamb and his followers, but the Lamb will defeat him:

… “and the Lamb will conquer them, 

for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, 

and those with him are called 

and chosen and faithful.” (Rev 17:14).