In Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus just finished teaching the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and after this he expands the Ten Commandments. Reading today’s Gospel, we are reminded that his teaching and God’s will for us are experienced and embodied in the way we are in relationship with others.
Jesus says, “Do you think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets: I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” It’s one thing for me to say I’m a Christian, to do the Christian thing is to do God’s Will. I must become the “embodiment” of the law by living it. Jesus’ teachings in the Gospel are meant to guide me to live in right relationship with our community, with a preference for those most in need, oppressed, or overlooked.
Belief or faith are not just words: they are my words lived in action. Jesus reminds me in the Gospel that we cannot pick and choose which laws to follow and which ones not to follow. True, we cannot perfectly follow what Jesus asks of us, but we can try every day, in every choice, while we recognize that we sin, and turn away from right relationship with God and with our community. Thankfully, through God’s mercy we are forgiven when we do sin, and with that forgiveness we are called forth to heal and return to right relationship. Lifelong efforts until the end of days.
Let’s take a moment to consider in prayer, no matter how small it may seem, a right relationship with God or with others, that went sour, that got broken. How does it feel to be in this broken relationship? What stands in the way of healing? What should I ask from God in order to come to a restored, right relations? Yes, we already know what we ned to ask for.