3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Some non-Catholic theologians and philosophers – and even some who call themselves Catholics – claim that God could have formulated the Ten Commandments by forbidding what He commands and commanding what He forbids.
For example, instead of saying “You shall not kill,” He could have commanded “You shall murder,” or “You shall lie,” or “You shall hate your father and mother!” He could establish Commandments contrary to those that exist, and everything would be fine. After all, God is omnipotent.
For those who harbour such ideas, leaving the door thus open to every relativism, perhaps the moment has come to adapt to the new times: modernization is the watchword!
God’s Law is in accordance with natural law
Nothing could be more monstrous, since “the Law of the Lord God is perfect, a comfort to the soul” (Ps 18:8). The Commandments are in such accordance with the natural order that man could have known them by the light of reason, for “the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Ps 18:9). Moreover, we perceive by common sense that no civilization would stand if people were obliged to kill, steal, lie, sin against chastity, etc.
However, how far are we from this today?
Isaiah seems to prophesy our times when he says: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Is 5:20).
And Nehemiah, in the post-exile period – when the people of Israel lost their freedom and their land – recounts the moment when Ezra presented the Law before the assembly and pointed to the birth of Judaism, showing that it is the fulfilment of God’s will that brings freedom (cf. Neh 8:2-10).
We are members of the Mystical Body of Christ
St. Paul, for his part, affirms that the Church is a true Body, with all the characteristics of the human body, but a Mystical Body, of which Christ is the head and we are the members (cf. 1 Cor 12:12). Now, the human body is highly organized and functions through the joint action of cells, tissues, organs and systems, which are set up hierarchically, under the command and guidance of the head. And just as disorder in the physical body is called illness, disorder in the Mystical Body is called disobedience or sin.
St. Luke dedicates this Sunday’s Gospel to Theophilus (cf. Lk 1:3) – a name that means friend of God – as if to say that all those who welcome the Good News are friends of God. Finally, he recounts the moment when Jesus reads the Book of the Prophet Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth. After the reading, the Saviour closes the book, sits down and delivers the shortest sermon in history: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21).
Let us ask Our Lady that Jesus’ Gospel may also be fulfilled in our lives today. Otherwise, we will not honour the name of Christian or the fact that we are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. ◊
