Lenten Reflections

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By Br. Ambrose Haltermann, O.S.B.

In our readings today, there are sixteen uses of “legal terminology,” including words like: statutes, decrees, ordinances, commands, laws. In each of these uses, the Law of God (revealed in the Ten Commandments, in the Old Testament prophets, and in the Person of Jesus Christ) is understood to be something good – a benefit. Those who observe the Law are described as “wise and intelligent” and the relationship between God and His people as a result of this Law is a unique one. Moses asks rhetorically: “What great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon Him?” Today’s psalm echoes Moses’ question: “He has not done this for any other nation, His ordinances He has not made known to them.” The answer is clear – no other nation is as blessed as the one who follows the Lord. The ancient Israelites often had to learn this the hard way – when they turned away from God, and became focused on money, power, sexual immorality, or their own petty selfishness, they experienced all sorts of hardship: infighting, famine, invasion, slavery, deportation, the destruction of the Temple.

The Mosaic Law, that of the Old Testament, including the ceremonial and juridical laws found in Exodus and Leviticus, were a first step by God to enter into deeper communion with His people. The ancient Israelites were given these laws to begin the process of salvation and divinization that God had planned for them. They first needed to begin acting with justice. The New Covenant, revealed by Christ and ratified in His Blood, discards some of the ancillary measures of this law (the dietary restrictions, for example) but moves the people of God a step further in their moral development. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ extends and intensifies the moral law by shifting the focus from exterior actions to interior attitudes. It is no longer good enough to refrain from stealing my neighbor’s property, now I must root out all sense of jealousy and envy within myself as well. Merely acting as God wants, in an exterior manner, is of no benefit if my interior life is replete with pride, anger, resentment, and selfishness. St Paul beautifully puts it thus: “If I give away all my possessions and hand my body over to be burned, but do not have love, I have gained nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3).

It is tempting for some to caricature religion as simply a set of rules, but this is clearly not the case in Christianity. While we must strive to follow every precept of Divine Law, Christ reminds us that the law will eventually pass away – when He comes to establish the New Heaven and the New Earth. Before the Throne of God there is no law, only the bliss of true Charity. Therefore, be “wise and intelligent” in following the Lord’s commands, overcome your own ego, grow in love of God and neighbor, and serve as a witness to the joy that is yet to come.