The Fourth Notorious Mystery
The Jewish people defined themselves by their fidelity to the law. Jesus challenges rote responses and wants to get to the spirit behind the law. Certain foods are not unclean in themselves any more than the tree in the primordial garden had poisoned fruit. The issue was the proper posture of the creature before God, which is loving obedience. Catholics fast and abstain from meat at designated times, not to say that food is bad but to show that we love the Giver more than the gifts. That which is truly unclean comes from inside the person. Sin is fully realized in our behavior but it is conceived in our minds and hearts. Nothing should be done to encourage the blight of lustful and greedy hearts. Those seduced by evil want what they want and will not let anyone tell them what to do, even God. The rights and needs of others are dismissed because there is a failure to love as God loves us. It is for this reason that the two-fold commandment of Christ, loving God and neighbor, is really one commandment. We cannot say that we love the God we do not see while hating the neighbor we do see.
Filed under: Prayer |
Blogger Priest 
Leave a comment