Breaking the Word

1^st week in Lent, Saturday – 4^th March 2023 – Deut 26,16-19;  Mt 5,43-48

Binding Covenant

Today’s first reading from the last part of the Book of Deuteronomy presents the laws that one must follow. Moses reminds the people of the solemn agreement that has been made between God and his people: “You have obtained this declaration from Yahweh.”   The declaration is that He will be their God only as long as the people, “follow his ways, keep his statues, his commandments, his customs, and listen to his voice.” It is a mutually binding contract. If they do that, God will look favourably upon those who seek to do the will of God. In this way, they will stand out among all peoples as a people consecrated to their God and outstanding in their virtue. However, the Gospel spells out more clearly of how far the commandments and statutes are to be observed. It emphasizes on the interior attitude and on mutual relationships between God, other people and oneself. The laws of the Old Testament emphasize on the external observance of rules and regulations. It binds as a covenant between God and his people.

1^st week in Lent, Friday – 3^rd March 2023 – Ezekiel 18,21-28; Mt 5,20-26

Choice to be Faithful

The first reading reminds us that we will live eternally by the final choice we make and in our relationship with God. On the one hand, if the man who has done evil genuinely repents of what he has done he will be totally forgiven. Because it is God’s desire that we should live rather than die. On the other hand, if the formerly good man turns to a life of sin, he will die in his sin. Just because people have been faithful most of their lives, if they reject God in the final moments of their lives, God will respect their final choice. Likewise, if sinful individuals turn from their sinful ways and turn toward God at the end of their lives, God will grant them life based on their final choice. Until Ezekiel’s time, people believed that they were not only guilty of their past sins, but even of the sins of their parents. Here, Ezekiel is affirming that sin is something that belongs to an individual. And that it is a person’s present dispositions and choices, and only these, that determine God’s judgement. However, it is not God who condemns us; it is we who make the choice to be with God or to alienate ourselves from him. And God recognizes our choice. Obviously, the best choice is to be faithful throughout our lives. Judas, a chosen apostle, was lost because of the final choice he made in life. The murderous thief on the cross with Jesus repents, and goes with Jesus to heaven.