Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle
Matthew 5:17-19
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 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. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Opening Prayer: Come, Holy Spirit, open my heart that you might write the new law of Christ upon it. Jesus, come and live in my heart always; dwell within me so others may encounter you through me.
Encountering Christ:
- The Warning: This Gospel passage contains a warning and a promise. Breaking the commandments of the law, or worse, teaching others to break the commandments, leads to the warning. Later in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus strongly explained this warning: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Mt 18:6). His message is clear: If you lead children or people who have less knowledge than you to sin, you put a stumbling block in front of them, which is a mortal sin and separates you from God for as long as you remain unrepentant.
- The Promise: The promise is that those who obey and teach the commandments will have a special place in Christ’s Kingdom. One does not necessarily need to be a teacher or catechist to teach others. We can teach others through our good examples. Parents have a special responsibility to teach their children to obey God’s commands. A good prayer to remind us of our commitment to follow God’s commands is the Jewish Shema prayer. The entire Shema is comprised of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41. It begins: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength. Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.”
- Love Is the New Law: Jesus came to fulfill the law, not change it. According to the Catechism, “Jesus acknowledged the Ten Commandments, but he also showed the power of the Spirit at work in their letter” (CCC 2054). Jesus is the living, breathing law of God. God’s divine law was not nullified by Christ’s coming; it was united and perfected in him. He is the new law, which we fulfill through love: the commandments “are all summed up in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom 13:9-10). We can ask ourselves if we seek to fulfill God’s law each day by loving him above all things and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Conversing with Christ: My Jesus, I glorify you and praise you, the new law of God. I am sorry for the times when I have failed to follow your commandments and especially for any times when I have misled others into breaking your commandments. Please forgive me for my past sins and lead me rightly so that I obey and teach your commandments always.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will do my duty to the best of my ability as an expression of my love for you and love for others.
Carey Boyzuck is a wife, mother, freelance writer, and lay member of Regnum Christi. She blogs at Word Life Light.
