The law of love reaches to the four corners of the earth and to the end of time

 
Reading: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matthew 5:17.
 
Good morning, happy Wednesday, and many blessings my dear Holyrood family.
 
In today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:17-19) we learn how Jesus frequently angered the Pharisees by breaking the law. He pulled ears of corn on the Sabbath. He healed on the Sabbath. He touched the unclean. It seems clear that when he speaks of the Law, he is speaking of it in a transformed sense as defined in his teaching that only two commandments are necessary – to love God and to love one’s neighbor as oneself.
 
The law of love reaches to the four corners of the earth and to the end of time. No being escapes the demand of this law. When this law is honored, all the other laws fall into place. Jesus seems very supportive of the Jewish law at this point, but the early Christians, like St. Paul, felt free to break away from many Jewish teachings. What is God saying to me here? Jesus was also very conscious of the spiritual harm we can do to other people, especially young people, by bad example or ill-advised advice. Do I think before I speak on spiritual matters?
 
All the law and all the prophets are summed up in the ‘new commandment’ love God, neighbor and self. Reflect on the discipline involved in your loving. When I am truly loving I am living according to the ‘commandments. The commandments are there to help us to be loving, respectful, just, merciful, caring for God’s creation. Have I ever put law before love in my attitudes or actions? Talk with Jesus about this.
 
“Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinner and eats with them.’” (Luke 15:1-2). I wonder, how is Jesus not “abolishing” but “fulfilling” the law in this way? Could it be his profound union with people, his loving engagement with people, especially people in difficulty or people being excluded?
 
Today I invited you to end your prayer with the writer of the Psalms: “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. (Psalm 25:4-5).
 
Blessings,
 
Luis+