The Old Testament Law, symbolized by the Ten Commandments was a form of catechesis of God’s minimal desires for humans to live in peace with one another.  Christians who read the New Testament understand that Jesus’ catechesis stretches us further.  The law says we must not kill one another, Jesus says we are to abide by a practice of love for our enemies rather than a law of getting even.   We must not only NOT take God’s name to witness falsehood, but we are to speak only and always the truth.

Paul makes a point in the letter to the Galatians that the Law that Christians must follow is the law of Freedom.  We must choose God and God’s compassion.  We must imitate God and go the extra mile of caretaking.  We can’t do things because we must, but because we want to . . .lovingly.

For Paul, the Old Commands put a form of slavery upon humans – but Jesus’ death and resurrection allows us to step away from the structures of the Old Law and choose to live as Jesus lived.  Remember that Jesus told the apostles that with the Spirit they would do greater things than he as was able to do.  Most of us kind of ignore the implications of that because it implies that Jesus is fully human and was bound in humanity by the Covenant of Circumcision.  In His Resurrection Jesus not only overcame death he even overcame the Old Law and its slavery to religious formulas. He was restored to the full exercise of His Divine Wisdom that he had set aside to be born a human subject to the Old Law. 

We, however, have been birthed into the Law of the Spirit – the ability to see reality as God does, to love as God does etc.  Why and how is this possible? Because we are born into the Resurrected Christ –  the real core of the Church and the accomplishment of the inauguration of the Kingdom of God in this world.  We do not have to hate and get even, we do not have to sin by choice, we do not have to live in the slavery of the Old Law – we are born into Eternal Life through the gift of Baptism. 

Some weeks ago, I participated in the baptism of a beautiful infant girl.  I was one of the oldest people at this gathering – I had taught half of the young adults who brought their children and even one or two who brought grandchildren.  I was moved by the gathering and the love and friendship expressed there, but as I visited with these young colleagues, I was saddened by what seemed to be an inability to get beyond the structures of human sin around them and see themselves called to live in the discipline of the reign of God right now.  They could not believe the Good News of the Gospel in a faith community that required patience and endurance.

Back when I was a young woman I attended a talk by a famous German theologian, Karl Rahner, S.J.  He was speaking about living the Christian life in “post modernity.”  And he challenged the group of us in attendance to take the New Testament very seriously.  He insisted that to live as a Christian we would all have to be mystics.  We would have to take Baptism as transformative of our whole humanity very seriously, that we would have to be men and women who took the freedom of the law of love seriously. 

In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus telling us that it is an evil generation who demands the security of signs and structures of certainty.  Faith is relationship that must be lived in freedom and commitment even when it is unbelievably difficult – and seemingly against all odds.  If we are not willing to enter prayer seriously, if we are not prepared to live in faith not human security, if we won’t come out of our gated communities of “our people” rather than the tremendous uncertainty of “all people,” if we will not be faithful to the Church that bears the teachings of Jesus into history, then faith will die out in in hearts and lives – and it will not be available for that generation of beautiful children being born right now.  We have nothing to hand on to them if we do not live it now.

Today, and every day we are invited to pray for the ability to pray.  We are called to believe the humanly unbelievable because with God ALL THINGS are possible.  We are invited to live in the freedom of discerned decisions of God’s grace supported by the promise of God’s mercy instead of the surety of laws and institutions.  We have been given the Grace of Baptism and are continuously invited to the Eucharist to affirm that Baptism and grow into its Divine characteristics within us.

As this year of our Lord passes into history, I pray that I will be more authentic in living the Christian Faith and I invite you to pray with me in asking this for yourself and each person you love.