“Whoever Obeys And Teaches” by Rev. Paul Berghout
(@FatherPB)
Piety
If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and they
will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; he has set before you
fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are
life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him. Sirach 15:15-17
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of
heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19
Study
There was a large group of people. On one side of the group
stood a man, Jesus. On the other side of the group stood Satan. Separating
them, running through the group, was a fence.
The scene set, both
Jesus and Satan began calling to the people in the group and, one by one - each
having made up his or her mind - each went to either Jesus or Satan.
This process kept going.
Soon enough, Jesus had gathered around him a group of people from the larger
crowd, as did Satan.
But one man joined
neither group. He climbed the fence that was there and sat on it. Then Jesus
and his people left and disappeared. So too did Satan and his people. And the
man on the fence sat alone.
As this man sat, Satan
came back, looking for something which he appeared to have lost. The man said,
“Have you lost something?” Satan looked straight at him and replied, “No, there
you are. Come with me.”
“But,” said the man, “I
sat on the fence. I chose neither you nor him.”
“That’s okay,” said
Satan. “I own the fence.”
Jesus builds a shield
around the law or Commandments to create more space and distance so that we
won’t even bump up against the fence or sit on the fence, but rather keep a
healthy distance away from the borders.
Consider that Saint
Padre Pio said that “The Devil is like a rabid dog tied by a chain. Beyond the
length of the chain, he cannot catch hold of anyone. And you, therefore, keep
your distance. If you get too close, Satan will catch you.”
Consider the
commandment: “Thou shall not commit adultery.” It sets the boundary to avoid
“heart adultery” fueled by lust. Jesus advises us to take drastic measures to
avoid crossing this boundary through the metaphor of tearing out one’s eye and
cutting off a hand.
Cut off power to your computer.
Join a 12 Step group. It’s better than risking your whole body going into hell
fire.
Murder is wrong, but the
protective shield is to don’t even nurture resentments-- “Whoever is angry with
his brother will be liable to judgment.”
We are talking about
just the intention here, not even the act of murder. Crossing the fence already
has happened if we insult people like ‘Raqa,” which means idiot. And just
because someone else crosses the fence, you don’t have to.
- “I’m sorry you feel that way, but you’re still responsible for taking out the garbage.”
- “Talking to me that way isn’t going to get you out of doing your homework.”
- “Maybe you do hate living here, but you still have to be home on time.”
What to do about it if
you are the offending child? “Leave your gift there at the altar, go first and
be reconciled with your brother or parent, and then come and offer your gift.”
That means to say you
are sorry and apologize before the Offertory and Communion at Mass.
One last example is a
divorce in a valid marriage. In principle, the divorced woman is still the wife
of her husband, and the man who divorces his wife makes her an adulteress on
the presumption that she will marry again. The man who marries the divorced
woman both shares in her adultery and also commits that offense himself,
because, in principle, the divorced woman is still married to her first
husband. A paper divorce decree can’t change that spiritual reality.
Crossing the boundary is
to threaten divorce in the first place, or infidelity physically or financially.
Our First Reading from
Sirach 15:15 says, “If you choose, you can keep the commandments, they will
save you.” We also heard Sirach 15:17, “Before man are life and death, good and
evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.”
Action
Ecclesiastes 10:8 says that whoever breaks through a wall
may be bitten by a snake.
Please don’t cross the fence or sit on it or you will get
bitten by a rabid dog or a snake or far worst.
Amen.
1 comment:
Excellent
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