Linggo, Setyembre 1, 2013

From the Taize Community and the Focolare Movement

28 August 2013

If the above link does not work please try the ones below:

Bible texts with commentary
These Bible meditations are meant as a way of seeking God in silence and prayer in the midst of our daily life. During the course of a day, take a moment to read the Bible passage with the short commentary and to reflect on the questions which follow. Afterwards, a small group of 3 to 10 people can meet to share what they have discovered and perhaps for a time of prayer.

September 2013

Matthew 5:17-20: God’s Great Justice and the Least Commandments
Jesus said: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)
In the Sermon on the Mount, these verses precede and introduce the teaching on the commandments. Jesus expresses God’s will in such a new and unexpected way that the question arises whether he does not intend to abolish the Law given by Moses.
If, for example, you have to give your shirt to whomever takes your coat (v. 40), does this not mean that the commandment “Thou shalt not steal” is abrogated? It is unfair to let thieves and aggressors go unpunished. But we can move away from justice in two directions. Those who steal or cheat act unjustly, and this injustice is an evil. Whoever gives their shirt to the person who takes their coat does not act justly either. But their “injustice” is a good: it is more-than-justice, the overflowing justice of those who are entering the Kingdom of God.
Jesus denies that he is abolishing the Law and favoring injustice: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law.” Rather, he brings out the basic intention of the commandments. He has a prophetic understanding of the Law. It must be fulfilled like the words of the prophets. The Law will not pass away “until everything is accomplished.” Jesus even has a great love of the details of the Law, the famous dots on the “i”, because he attempts to discover in every word of Scripture the trace of a promise.
The more difficult question concerns “the least of these commands.” Why, or in what way, are they “least”? Some people have thought that these are the commands that Christians consider secondary, for example the dietary or ritual rules of the Law of Moses. On the other hand some, beginning with the Church Fathers, have seen in these least commandments the Ten Commandments, especially those that are short, like “Thou shalt not kill.”
It is more probable that Jesus is speaking of his own commandments. The disciples, who will have the task of teaching what Jesus commanded (28:20), can abrogate one or another of these commandments, return to the letter of the Law and authorize for instance the use of oaths, legitimate defense, or divorce in certain situations. They will not be excluded from the Kingdom of heaven because of this, but they will be called the least.
Those who, on the contrary, put into practice and remain faithful to what Jesus taught “will be called great in the kingdom” but will remain little in the world as it is. For the commandments of Jesus are not for the great; the powerful of this world cannot turn the other cheek. The expression “the least of these commands” echoes another one, “one of these little ones,” those who believe in Jesus (18:6), who are his disciples (10:42). Jesus made himself little, “humble of heart” (11:29), and the commandments as he taught them make his disciples little.
- When does love cause us to go further than justice? When should the call for justice not be denied?
- In what commandments of the Old or New Testament can I recognize a promise?
- What changes when we welcome the commands of Jesus as the words of a humble teacher speaking to little disciples?

Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. (1 Jn. 3:18)
Love is not a matter of simply offering fine words but of action. We can learn from Jesus who loved us in a real way. Copying his genuine love we can be his instruments for the salvation of the world.
John the Evangelist wrote these words. He was putting his communities on guard against certain people whose words spoke highly of faith in Jesus, but who did not follow faith through with practice. Indeed, they considered practice to be useless and superfluous, as if Jesus had already done everything. Their faith was empty and sterile because it took away from the work of Jesus the indispensable contribution he asks from each of us.
Let  us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
Love in action. True faith, says John, is faith that gives proof of itself by loving as Jesus loved and taught us to do. Now, the first characteristic of this kind of love is its concreteness. Jesus did not love us merely by giving wonderful talks. Rather, he was in our midst doing good, healing all, being fully available to those who came to him, beginning with the weakest, the poorest, the most marginalized, and giving up his life for us.
Let  us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
We are to love, John says, not only in action but also in truth. Christian love, at the same time as trying to be translated into actual deeds, is deeply concerned with being inspired by the truth of love that we find in Jesus; it is deeply concerned with doing deeds that conform to Jesus’ wishes and teachings. We must love, that is, in the way and with the measure Jesus shows us.
Let  us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
How are we to live the Word of Life this month? Its message is almost too clear. It is a reminder of that genuine Christianity upon which Jesus insisted so much. But isn’t this also what the world is longing for? Isn’t it perhaps true that the world today wants to see witnesses of the love of Jesus?
Let’s, therefore, love in action and not only in word, beginning with the humble services that are asked of us each day by those around us.
And let’s love in truth. Jesus always acted according to the Father’s will. In the same way, we should act always according to Jesus’ words. He wants us to recognize him in each neighbour. In fact, whatever we do to any person he considers as done to himself. He also wants us to love others as ourselves, and he wants us to love one another ready to give up our lives one for the other.
Let’s love like this, then, so that we too may be instru­ments of Jesus for the salva­tion of the world.
Chiara Lubich
 First published in May 1988
Ipinaskil ni sa

Walang komento:

Mag-post ng isang Komento

Mag-subscribe sa: I-post ang Mga Komento (Atom)