Vì Thiên Chúa yêu thương
chúng ta, Ngài đã ban cho chúng ta những điều răn để hướng dẫn chúng ta, để chúng ta có thể được sống an bình trong cuộc sống hàng ngày. Nếu
không có luật pháp để cai trị con người, thì thế giới của chúng ta sẽ là một thế giới hỗn loạn. Đôi khi, một số người xem luật
pháp như là một sự giới hạn cái quyền tự do của họ, nhưng cũng có những người có xu hướng
dùng luật pháp để kiếm lợi riêng cho họ, họ thao tác quyền hành và uốn éo luật pháp theo ý riêng của họ để áp bức những người dân thấp cổ, bé miệng hơn là sử dụng luật pháp để bảo vệ
người dân. Những người này dùng luật pháp như là những khí cụ để giúp họ có bề thế để kiếm tiền, có quyền hành để kiểm soát người khác thay vì giúp đỡ người
khác. Do đó nhiều người trong chúng ta cảm
thấy bị áp bức bởi luật pháp, và cũng có nhiều người trong những người
đang làm nhiệm vụ thi hành, bảo vệ pháp luật lại sử dụng quyền hạn của mình để đe dọa và thống
trị người khác thay vì bảo vệ người dân.
Luật pháp của Thiên Chúa thì khác vì giúp cho con người được tự do, Luật Pháp của Thiên Chúa là luật pháp của tình yêu. Khi chúng ta chấp nhận, hiểu và thực hành theo tinh thần Luật Yêu Thương của Thiên Chúa, chúng
ta sẽ thể hiện tình yêu qua việc bác ái, tôn trọng con người và có lòng quảng đại đối với người đồng loại của
chúng ta. Chúng ta tìm cách để cải thiện cuộc sống
của chính mình và những người chung quanh bằng việc giáo dục con em của chúng ta, giúp những người khác để họ trở thành người tốt và công dân tốt của thế giới. Tình
yêu sinh ra tình yêu. Đây là những lớp lang rõ ràng của tình yêu Kitô
giáo đang chủ động; đó là một biểu hiện rõ
ràng trong việc áp dụng
những điều răn của Thiên Chúa.
REFLECTION
Because God loves us,
He gave us the commandments to guide us through the course of our daily lives.
If there were no laws to govern a people, there would be much chaos in the
world. Sometimes, some people view the law as such which limits freedom. Others
tend to use the law to their own advantage, manipulating and twisting it to
oppress rather than using it to protect others. These people see the law as
that which makes them all-powerful and controlling, using instead of helping
others. Hence some of us feel oppressed by the law, since many of those who are
there to enforce the law use it to intimidate and dominate instead of protect
and defend.
God's law sets people free, God's law is the
law of love. When we accept, understand and implement the spirit of God's Law
of Love, we show love, care, respect and generosity towards our fellow man. We
seek to improve the lives of others and ourselves, educating our children,
helping others become better people and citizens of the world. We employ and
empower ourselves and others to become better people. Love begets love. This is
a clear cascading of Christian love and being pro-active; a clear manifestation
and use of God's
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
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. Matthew 5:17–18
The long history of
salvation, through which God gradually revealed His divine plan, began with
Adam and Eve, continued with Noah and Abraham, deepened with Moses, became
internalized with the prophets, and was fulfilled in Jesus. Though tracing this
history in detail is a lengthy process, one simple truth stands out: After the
fall of Adam and Eve, God gradually unfolded the perfection of His Divine Law
to His people. In the same way, He draws each of us closer as we slowly convert
and are purified through our spiritual journey.
At the start, God
established what we call the Natural Law. Adam and Eve understood moral truths
naturally. However, after their sin, that Law became obscured and remains so
today. God then made a covenant with Noah, promising never again to destroy the
earth by water. With Abraham, the covenant deepened, as God promised to bless
all nations through his descendants. Then came Moses, and with him, the Ten
Commandments, a clear moral code for living. Ceremonial laws were introduced to
guide the people in worship, and civil laws helped establish the Israelites as
God’s distinct people.
Once Israel was
established, God sent prophets to call for a deeper, internal transformation of
heart. The prophets urged the people to repent, return to God, and prepare for
the Messiah, who would fulfill the Covenant in its entirety.
When Jesus arrived,
His teaching illuminated a fuller understanding of the Law. In Him, all the
promises and precepts of the Law were realized. Through His life, death, and
resurrection, Jesus established a New Covenant of grace, bringing about the
fullness of redemption.
This overview of
salvation history is not only important from a historical perspective but also
offers insight into how God relates to each of us personally. In the beginning
of our own conversion, God meets us where we are: He calls us to be His children,
and we are drawn to follow His commandments, avoiding serious sin. As we
progress, our faith practices, including the sacraments, take on new depth.
Gradually, we internalize the call to live from the heart, not just through
outward observance. We begin to see God as an intimate and personal God, and we
work to overcome even small attachments to sin. Ultimately, we are called to
turn fully to the Gospel, letting it lead us into a deeper relationship with
Christ.
Recognizing this
progression is essential for our spiritual journeys. If we fail to see this
path, we might become complacent. Everything God revealed at the beginning of
your conversion remains true, but the start is not the fulfillment. As you
reflect on your life, ask yourself: Can I see how God has drawn me closer to
Himself, deepened my faith, and called me into greater union with Him?
God leads us gently,
knowing that immediate perfection would be overwhelming. Still, He desires our
daily growth. Each day is an opportunity for continued conversion, deeper
transformation, and spiritual purification. The great saints have written about
this journey, showing us the way to holiness.
Reflect today on the
call to be perfect. If that seems impossible, commit to one step at a time. The
road to perfection is long, demanding, and difficult—but it is also freeing,
transforming, and ultimately glorious. Though you won’t become a saint overnight,
you can take the next step toward holiness today. Say “Yes” to this journey and
trust that God will lead you.
My revealing Lord,
little by little You have shown us the path to salvation. From the time of Adam
and Eve until Your coming as man, You have guided us back to full communion
with You. In my own life, reveal to me the path to holiness and give me the courage
to follow it. Help me to grow into sainthood, one step at a time. Jesus, I
trust in You.
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent- 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, why do I struggle to heed and obey
your law? Your law is something I should rejoice in because it leads me along
the path that leads to life. And yet, I am continually tempted to follow my own
way and reject your way. Do not allow me to succumb to these temptations and
bring me along the path that leads to you.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The New Torah: The Gospel today is taken from the Sermon on
the Mount. Jesus has just delivered the Beatitudes, the blessings of the New
Covenant. In a profound way, Jesus transformed the curses of the Old Covenant,
such as persecution and suffering, into the path to blessing in the New
Covenant. Moses promised suffering if the Israelites were unfaithful; Jesus
promised suffering, tribulation, and persecution if his disciples were
faithful. Jesus told his disciples that he was not abolishing the Old Law and
the Prophets of the Old Covenant; rather, he was fulfilling them. Jesus gave a
New Law, a new Torah, that was rooted in the Old Law of Moses, but far
surpassed the Old Law and was meant not just for a single nation, but for the
entire world. All human beings are called to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven
inaugurated on earth by Jesus.
2. The New Creation: Jesus speaks about
the Law of Moses not passing until “heaven and earth pass away.” But we are no
longer bound to many of the laws. So, what happened? One way to understand the
timing of this event is to consider what happened at Jesus’ crucifixion. In
Matthew 28:11, the soldiers who guarded Jesus’ tomb told the chief priests,
“all that had been accomplished.” And Jesus said that nothing from the law will
pass away until “all is accomplished.” So, with Jesus’ death and resurrection,
the old creation, the old covenant, is accomplished and brought to fulfillment,
and a new creation begins. Jesus’ death and resurrection mark the beginning of
the new heavens and the new earth. The Law of Moses was binding during Jesus’
lifetime. With Jesus’ death, however, sin is atoned for, and the old covenant
is brought to fulfillment in the new.
3. The New Temple: A second way to interpret Jesus’ phrase,
“until heaven and earth pass away,” is to understand that the Temple in
Jerusalem was a microcosm of the universe. This meant that when the Temple was
destroyed in A.D. 70, parts of the Law of Moses “passed away.” Many of the
regulations about animal sacrifice, ceremonial rites, social restrictions, and
dietary laws have all “passed away” with the destruction of the Temple. When we
read the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the forty-year period between the
death of Jesus in A.D. 30 and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a
special time in which the Old Law was passing away and the New Law was being
implemented. Jewish Christians continued to follow much of the Law of Moses as
long as the Temple stood. But Gentile Christians, after the Council of
Jerusalem in A.D. 49, were not burdened with many of the ceremonial rites and
dietary restrictions of the Law of Moses. The moral laws remained and were
intensified in the New Covenant. But much of the ministry and teaching of Peter
and Paul in these 40 years was dedicated to understanding the passing away of
the Law of Moses and its fulfillment in Christ Jesus.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you gave
us the New Law of grace and the great commandment to love. You gave us the
supreme example of love by giving your life for us on the Cross. Pour your
Spirit into my heart so that I may live the New Law to the full.
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
“Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own,
but only what he sees the Father doing; for what he does, the Son will do also.
For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and
he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed.” John 5:25–26
The most central and most glorious mystery of our faith is that of
the Most Holy Trinity. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God yet
three distinct Persons. As divine “Persons,” each one is distinct; but as one
God, each Person acts in perfect union with the others. In today’s Gospel,
Jesus clearly identifies the Father in Heaven as His Father and clearly states
that He and His Father are one. For this reason, there were those who wanted to
kill Jesus because He “called God his own father, making himself equal to God.”
The sad reality is that the greatest and most glorious truth of
God’s inner life, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, was one of the primary
reasons that some chose to hate Jesus and sought His life. Clearly, it was
their ignorance of this glorious truth that drove them to this hatred.
We call the Holy Trinity a “mystery,” not because they cannot be
known but because our knowledge of Who They are can never be fully understood.
For eternity, we will enter deeper and deeper into our knowledge of the Trinity
and be “amazed” on a continually deepening level.
One additional aspect of the mystery of the Trinity is that each
one of us is called to share in Their very life. We will forever remain
distinct from God; but, as many of the early Church Fathers liked to say, we
must become “divinized,” meaning, we must share in God’s divine life through
our union of body and soul with Christ Jesus. That union also unites us with
the Father and the Spirit. This truth should also leave us “amazed,” as we read
in the passage above.
As we continue to read this week from the Gospel of John and
continue to ponder the mysterious and profound teaching of Jesus on His
relationship with the Father in Heaven, it is essential that we not simply
gloss over the mysterious language Jesus uses. Rather, we must prayerfully
enter the mystery and allow our penetration of this mystery to leave us truly
amazed. Amazement and transforming edification is the only good response. We
will never fully understand the Trinity, but we must allow the truth of our
Triune God to take hold of us and enrichen us, at very least, in a way that
knows how much we do not know—and that knowledge leaves us in awe.
Reflect, today, upon the sacred mystery of the Most Holy Trinity.
Pray that God reveals Himself more fully to your mind and more completely
consume your will. Pray that you will be able to share deeply in the life of
the Trinity so that you will be filled with a holy amazement and awe.
Most holy and triune God, the love You share within Your very
being of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is beyond my comprehension. The mystery of
Your triune life is a mystery of the greatest degree. Draw me in, dear Lord, to
the life You share with Your Father and the Holy Spirit. Fill me with wonder
and awe as You invite me to share in Your divine life. Most Holy Trinity, I
trust in You.
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, why do I struggle to heed and
obey your law? Your law is something I should rejoice in because it leads me
along the path that leads to life. And yet, I am continually tempted to follow
my own way and reject your way. Do not allow me to succumb to these temptations
and bring me along the path that leads to you.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The New Torah: The Gospel is taken from the Sermon on
the Mount. Jesus has just delivered the Beatitudes, the blessings of the New
Covenant. In a profound way, Jesus transformed the curses of the Old Covenant,
such as persecution and suffering, to become the path to blessing in the New
Covenant. Moses promised suffering if the Israelites were unfaithful; Jesus
promised suffering, tribulation, and persecution if his disciples were
faithful. Jesus tells his disciples that he is not abolishing the Old Law and
the Prophets of the Old Covenant, rather, he is fulfilling them. Jesus is
giving a New Law, a new Torah, that was rooted in the Old Law of Moses, but far
surpassed the Old Law and was meant not just for a single nation, but for the
entire world. All human beings are called to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven
inaugurated on earth by Jesus.
2. Moses’ Statutes and Decrees: In the First Reading, from the Book of
Deuteronomy, Moses spoke to the people after their 40 years in the wilderness
and taught them one last time the statutes and decrees of the Lord. These
statutes and laws had a temporary dimension to them. They were meant for the
nation of Israel and focused on their life in the promised land. Some of the
laws Moses gave in Deuteronomy – such as those about divorce, warfare, dietary
restrictions, sickness, and slavery – were imperfect. They were given because
of the people’s “hardness of heart” and tendency to fall into sin. They awaited
their fulfillment by a New Moses, promised by Moses himself in Deuteronomy
18:15: “A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among
your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall listen.”
3. Until Heaven and Earth Pass Away: One way to interpret Jesus’ phrase,
“until heaven and earth pass away,” is to understand that the Temple in
Jerusalem was a microcosm of the universe. This meant that when the Temple was
destroyed in A.D. 70, parts of the Law of Moses “passed away.” Many of the
regulations about animal sacrifice, ceremonial rites, social restrictions, and
dietary laws have all “passed away” with the destruction of the Temple. When we
read the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the forty-year period between the
death of Jesus in A.D. 30 and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a
special time in which the Old Law was passing away and the New Law was being
implemented. Much of the ministry and teaching of Peter and Paul in this period
was dedicated to understanding the passing away of the Law of Moses and its
fulfillment in Christ Jesus.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you gave us the New Law of
grace and the great commandment to love. You gave us the supreme example of
love by giving your life for us on the Cross. Pour your Spirit into my heart so
that I may live the New Law to the full.
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