The 5th through 7th chapters of Matthew’s Gospel contains the Sermon on the Mount. Today, we hear a continuation of those teachings. Scholars believe that the intended audience of the Gospel of Matthew were Jews who were following the Way of Jesus. These Jews wanted to be assured that their Jewish culture and traditions were not being abolished, but rather fulfilled in Jesus, that the Way of Jesus did not reject Judaism, but rather it was its natural fulfillment. We see later in the Sermon on the Mount what this means, that the importance is not following each little injunction of the law, but instead placing important in the spirit of the law.
Following, interpreting, and pastorally applying the law is always a complex challenge for me as a priest. The popes have taught in recent years that one of the gravest dangers we have in the modern world is the pervasiveness of relativism, of thinking that there is no objective truth or law, that God’s laws and moral principles are relative and changeable based upon our circumstances, such as our culture, our education, our age, our economic status, and our gender. I believe in what Pope Benedict taught regarding relativism, but still, as a priest, I have to apply the law pastorally in different circumstances, which is not easy. The Second Vatican Council asks the Church to read the signs of the times, to dialogue with society, and to infuse society with the values of our faith.
It is a great challenge living out the values of our faith. It is difficult at times. It requires sacrifices. It sometimes entails going against the secular ways of the world. Yes, meditating upon God’s law and the covenant we have in Jesus, we have a lot to think about, don’t we?
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