John Desing csc –
Readings: 2 Cor 5:4-11; Mt 5:17-19
If spouses are unfaithful to each other, it shows that the bond of love is not there, or it has become lukewarm over the years. Similarly, our unfaithfulness to follow the precepts and commandments of God indicate that we don’t love God. The reasons why we don’t love God is because we don’t know the scriptures enough.
The word of God is supposed to be our guiding star in our journey into union with God. It is partially true that many people hesitate to open the Bible because in almost every page of it you will find many rules and regulations, to guide our life.
The first reading clearly tells us that we must understand not just the letter but most importantly the spirit of the law. In the gospel we have a very edifying example of making use of the law to promote life (Jn 8:1-11). According to the law, the woman caught in adultery should be stoned to death, but the spirit of the law is not to kill rather to discipline and to guide people not to succumb to immoral act.
The Gospel passage reveals the true personality of Jesus who neither broke the law intentionally nor was blinded by the law. His coming itself is a fulfillment of the law and the prophet. In doing so, he proclaimed the message that God loves us unconditionally. We are called to proclaim the same message to others; not to judge and not to condemn anyone.
Thus, we lead others to experience the love of God more and more. In fact, for those who are proud and unwilling to repent, the teachings of Jesus are difficult but for those who are humble and believe in the loving kindness of God his teachings are powerful means of experiencing the kingdom.