This Sunday we hear one of the more comforting passages from the
prophet Isaiah: “I will never forget you.” The people of Israel
had experienced that gut-wrenching feeling of complete
abandonment, and so the prophet reminds them that even should a
parent forget his or her child, God would never forget, never
forsake his people. In the midst of exile, God still remembers
and upholds Israel even in the indignities that it must undergo.
It definitely shook their faith. One commentator notes, “Nothing
indeed is more painful when one is in trouble than the
impression of being abandoned by the very person who had
promised to intervene and whom, day after day, one awaits in
vain. When the expected helper is God, faith and hope are
shaken.” These words are meant to restore courage and hope.
The Gospel is a powerful reflection again on the impossibility
about faithfully serving two masters, in this case God and
“mammon” (money). This is a saying most likely from common
experience. Again and again, Jesus in the Gospel prods the
listener’s conscience questioning our relationship to material
goods. In speaking of two potential masters here, Jesus is
speaking of God and money. Devotion to either one leads to
loving that one. Indeed, worry about money can lead to all sorts
of mental anguish, so Jesus continues the teaching to say: “do
not worry about your life....” The grass of the fields, the
birds, the wild flowers….all are taken care of justly by the
heavenly Father. Therefore, live free of worry, your eyes fixed
on the end of all things. This is the end times perspective of
the apostolic Christians and for us. Any worry that obscures the
vision of the “things to come” is a lack of faith in God. In a
sense, the Gospel is inviting us to seize the day, carpe diem
for tomorrow, will take care of itself. The Scriptures remind us
again and again that God does not forget his people and he takes
care of all our needs.
Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect and love your neighbor as yourself. These excerpts from the Gospel and the first reading are salient kernels of wisdom from the Lectionary for today. The Old Testament passage reminds us that God is not in some far off distant place but desires to be intimately involved with the people by making a covenant with them. The Lord God does not remain aloof in the vision of the Old Testament authors, but gets involved with the people by treating them as a partner. The Old Testament authors expressed the feeling of being far from God’s presence when they experienced the human condition of sin and things not going well for Israel. The passage is from Leviticus, the book dealing with temple worship. The phrase: “I am the Lord” occurs as if it were a refrain throughout this part of the book.
The passage is reminding the people that participation in worship (of the temple) implies a holiness beyond a simply legal and ritual purity. It requires an integrity that is suggested as normative for “the faithful.”
The passage from First Corinthians speaks of the community as the “temple of God” where the “Spirit of God dwells.” It is a powerful reflection on the care with which we should treat each other in the Christian community.
The Gospel is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount. Now we come to the unique imperatives of Jesus: “You have heard it said…but I say to you…” The mention of the Levitical law may jar the contemporary listener, however, it provides the opportunity to hear Jesus’ teaching on justice. The Christian is challenged to deliberately choose to act in a nonviolent way even toward those who treat you badly. The command is to turn the other cheek—intentionally not giving hate in return for hateful treatment. One commentator writes: “the point is not to seek to outdo others in perfection—be they pagans, sinners, exemplary brothers and sisters—but to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect.”
From Sirach we are faced with the choice of life
(choosing the law) or death (turning away from the law.) It is
the age-old question of human free will. The human person has
the responsibility of choosing between good and evil, fire and
water, life and death. The listener is told that the
commandments (the law) will save you. The responsorial Psalm
taken from the epic Psalm 119 honors the one who follows the law
of the Lord.
Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians reminds that the wisdom
of which he writes is not understood by this age, but comes from
God. Indeed, the wisdom and majesty to be revealed by God cannot
be fathomed by the human spirit.
The Gospel for this week is a continuation of the Sermon on the
Mount that we have heard in the previous weeks. Jesus has come
so that all the potential of the law may unfold, “that it may be
understood and observed in the Spirit that enlivens it more and
more, and in order to ‘fulfill’ it, to take it to its
completion. The imperative to forgive is taken to the next
level, by commanding that a gift be left at the altar, so that
the person might first be totally reconciled to God and
brother/sister. Adultery is not limited to the mere physicality
of the act, but Jesus extends it to include lust in the heart.
The prescription of divorce is extended as well. The listener is
encouraged not to swear oaths under any pretense. This teaching
of Jesus “has brought all former revelations to their
fulfillment. With an unequalled authority, he teaches
righteousness according to God. He reveals the true relationship
that human beings must have with the law, purified of all
legalism, a law that demands a commitment of the whole being,
and of its center: the heart.”
If last week's readings began the preparations for
Lent, today we come face to face with the requirements for leading
life more in keeping with the will of God. The first reading today
makes it plain and simple, "Share your bread…shelter the oppressed….clothe
the naked." This is how we are to live. The Psalm joins this line
of thought, reminding us to be lights that shine in the darkness
through acts of justice and mercy. Then in the Gospel, we hear the
famous passage from the Sermon on the Mount about being light for
the world and salt for the earth. Faith, it seems, must be something
lived, something done, something acted upon. That is how the power
of God will be made known through us in the world.
Perhaps this is also what Saint Paul is talking about when he reminds
the people of Corinth that he did not come with eloquence, but armed
only with the power of God. Just as he let God act through his work,
so God can be made manifest through our lives, so long as we do
not let the cares of the world distract us from the only thing that
really matters: the love of God in Christ Jesus.
