“I WILL WRITE [MY LAWS] IN THEIR HEARTS, SAYS THE LORD” (Jer 31:33)

⏰Thursday of the Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time 2 (09 August 2018)

📖Jer 31:31-34; Ps 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19 (R.v.12a); Matt 16:13-23

In the Galatian Church, there was a controversy over the condition of the gentile converts. Some Jews had come to disturb the converts, telling them that only their acceptance of circumcision and their adherence to the Jewish Law can enable them share in the salvation which Christ won for us.

The above problem made Paul to define what should be our relationship with the Law. These laws are not meant to enslave us but make us free Children of God.

In the Old Testament, the letters of the Law were held as sacred and followed with devotion. However, with time, abuses crept in. People began to pay less attention to the spirit of the Law and use the letters of the Law to work for selfish interests. That is why the Law needed to be renewed. And God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah that he is going to make the covenant anew and a new Law which shall no longer be on stone tablets but in the heart.

Jesus is the centre of that new covenant and he makes a new Law with it, “Love one another” (John 15:17).

Love is that rock upon which the Church is built. Jesus was moved by this love to die for us; Peter, whom he appointed to head his Church (cf. Matt 16:18), was pushed by that love to lay down his life for the Good news. This is the consequence of having the Law in the heart – sacrifice!

You know what! Most great men and women of God were moved by this love to work for God and his people. It was this love that inspired them to live above human deficiencies and become outstanding and attractive to many people seeking to be at peace with God.

May the Lord engrave his Law in our heart so that we may live in sacrificial love, thus making the world a better place, where the Lord will be our God, and we his people. Amen.

Have a lovely day ahead. Peace be with you.