“WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS FREEDOM” (2 Cor 3:17)

⏰Thursday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time 1 (15 June 2017)

????2 Cor 3:15 – 4:1, 3-6; Ps 85:9-13 (R.v.2ab); Matt 5:20-26

My dear, have you considered the significance of the tearing of the the veil covering the temple’s sanctuary at the death of Jesus (cf. Mark 15:38)? It is a sign that with Jesus, there is no longer any limitation for anyone to be enriched in God.

That was a shift from the existing status quo. The Israelites of the Old Testament lived an isolated life which assumes that they are the only ones known and loved by God. Anyone who is not with them was considered as enemy of God. Hence, there were so many division imposed by the mosaic law against the non-Jews.

However, Jesus came and destroyed those barriers and made us brothers and sisters one another. Anybody who is in Christ is free. Since Christ, being God, is love (cf. 1 John 4:16), anyone who hates another is living outside of Christ and still veiled in the Law of Moses (cf. 2 Cor 3:15-18).

It is very possible to have great reasons to hate the other person, yet hatred cannot be found in Christ. So when Jesus says that your righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees (Matt 5:20), he is simply pointing to the importance of living beyond the constraints of the letters of the law and living in love, in the spirit of the law.

The law is a guide to God’s blessing (cf. Deut 30:19-20) but love is the greatest law (cf. Matt 22:36-40). So, to have a personal encounter with Jesus, try love first for love conquers all things (read 1Cor 13:1-13).

May God grant us the grace to love him and our neighbour beyond self-glory so that we may never be separated from him and then be disposed to receive his blessings for us. Amen.

I wish you a blessed day under the loving guide of the Lord. Peace be with you.