3RD SUNDAY OF LENT B
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CAN YOU KEEP ALL TEN?
What good can we get from the 10 commandments? For many people these ancient divine rules are items to memorize in Catholic schools, stone tablet displays in front of churches, or a classic, spectacular movie from the 1950’s. Rarely do we hear them explained on the pulpit nowadays . Seldom do we read or study them on our own. After all, didn’t Jesus just reduce the 10 to the simpler 2 basic laws?
God gave the commandments to the people for a purpose. They were not capricious, arbitrary, or whimsical desires of a playful God. They were not impositions or restrictions on free actions of his people Israel.
We need to remember that the commandments were the apex of the people’s experience of liberation and freedom, of knowledge and relationship with the Lord. This was how God wanted the people to behave in order to safeguard their newfound life. This was how the people would express their gratitude and loyalty to God the Savior and Deliverer.
But who could keep all these commandments? Even in our lives, we have to admit that though we may not fall into the serious sins of adultery and murder, we do commit some form of lying or desiring or failure to sanctify the Lord’s Day. Going to confession, don’t we also go through each commandment to see how often we have failed to keep it?
When God delivered his commandments I doubt if he ever thought that his children would never break any one of them. God does not demand that we keep 100% every detail of the law. God does not select the strongest, bravest and most perfect to follow him or to accomplish his plans. God chooses all of us, knowing our weaknesses and faults. But the Lord continues to challenge us to try our very best to do his will because he knows we can do it if we have humility and faith.
Jesus is the fulfiller of the law. In his life, Jesus exemplified the consummate living of the commandments. But Jesus also explained that to keep the law of God, there must be a guiding spirit, and that is none other than love. No wonder when he simplified the explanation of the law, Jesus spoke of love of God and neighbor.
We may find the 10 commandments today a tall order to follow. Many of us are really struggling with constant weaknesses and sinful patterns. This Lenten season, the commandments are read to us to remind us that we belong to God and are dear to his heart. As we prepare for Confession, may we always ask Jesus to fill us with love so that we can strive to obey these commandments out of love and not out of fear or mere obligation.
