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      Being told what to do seems to be most difficult people in today’s society. We want to be able to determine what we do, when we do it, and how we do it. This refers to important things like relationships especially marriage, our faith, our politics, and even our jobs to some extent. Standing on your own two feet and being independent are truly laudable characteristics. Indeed, God created us with free will. The first reading reinforces this idea (Sirach 15: 15-20) We read: “Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given to him.” The reading cautions us, though, that we need to be “God -fearing” in our decisions. The opening line (verse 15) says: “If you choose, you can keep the commandments and they will save you; If you trust in God, you too shall live.” So we do have choices but in order to make good ones, we need to recognize that God and God’s ways are the only way to life. The Psalm (PS 119:1,2,4,5,17,18,33,34) reminds us that “blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord.”

      The Gospel (Matt 5:17-37) continues the “Sermon on the Mount” which begins with the beatitudes. In this sermon, there are great parallels to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament that contain the law (the Torah). Like Moses who comes down from the mountain where he saw God face to face and received the ten commandments, Jesus goes up the mountain and reinterprets the Torah in light of his coming as God’s son and ultimate spokesperson.  In verse 17, Jesus states very clearly his mission: “I have come not to abolish [the law] but to fulfill it.” And he is VERY clear in the next verse: “Amen I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” In the rest of the passage, Jesus makes it clear what God -fearing means and what God desires from us. These reinterpretations of the law make God’s ways very easy to understand. Killing is more than death, it is anger and other things that destroy people. So important are right relationships, that if we have relationships that are broken, we must reconcile with them BEFORE we make our sacrifice at the Temple. Our relationship with God is fractured if our human relationships are fractured. And Adultery is not just a specific physical sexual act, but can be committed by lust in our heart. Again, relationships have to be right for us to be in compliance with God’s law. 

      These are strong expectations and are difficult for any person to follow, especially if we have free will. And yet, we have to choose God’s law to live.  The last verse is the clincher: “Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no.” Integrity, honesty, God-fearing should be the hallmarks of our character. That will lead us to Eternal Life.