The first reading describes the Mosaic covenant between God and the nation of Israel. Note that this agreement is bilateral: “Today you are making this agreement with the LORD…. And today the LORD is making this agreement with you.” Do you feel the weight of responsibility coming from the human side of this deal? Let’s just say that our human team’s performance is often not too good.
As the people of God wandered in those days, I also find myself drifting away from following God’s call upon my life. If blessedness accompanies the blameless, who can call himself blessed? The human condition is regularly wayward and in tension with God’s laws, even when we know better. Mounting evidence demonstrates that keeping our side of this bargain is likely impossible. We require help.
I’m reminded of Samuel Clemens, who had pledged to his mother “not to drink a drop of liquor” while he was away from home for the first time. He reported that he kept his pledge, but he also observed: “The instant a person pledges himself not to drink, he feels the galling of the slave chain he has put upon himself….” I might have navigated around that pledge by drinking many drops, not just one. But I suppose that is merely another facet of the same problem. If our heart is not in the right place, we can find all kinds of trouble.
Some might say that this “old covenant” was hard, but it is easier now because we only need to follow Jesus. But today’s gospel presents difficult challenges for us. Instead of conforming to “thou shalt nots”, we have affirmative commands: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” I wish Jesus could have simply said, “just try to be nice.” After all, I can try.
But Jesus follows with a requirement of perfection! That condition is so far away that I can only laugh. But I relate quite well to the rain falling on the just and the unjust and the sun shining on the bad and the good. Thank you, Lord, for the rain and the sun, even when we are not so good or just. You are patient with us and provide blessedness far beyond what we deserve. You are generous with mercy, grace, and love that you secured for us through your Son and made known to us through your Church.
Fellow pilgrims, take courage. We have the sacraments to sustain us and encouragement from one another to help us when the journey is difficult. Do not be dismayed at these hard messages. Their hardness is like a tillage tool that can break through the compaction that covers our hearts and the dullness that affects our sensibilities. Hardness and dullness prevent us from participating in the life to which we are called. We need grace to transform us and to show us how we can love, forgive, and be fully alive. We are all in messes that we have helped to create, and we need a Savior to rescue us and dispense mercy instead of the justice we deserve.
Our Lord is calling us to come, to listen, and to learn from Him. And He asks us to come now, today. Let us arise and respond to His call.
Edward Morse
Ed Morse is a professor of law who holds the McGrath North Endowed Chair in business law at Creighton. University School of Law. He and his wife Susan are Catholic converts. Together, they operate a family cattle farm in rural Western Iowa.
Writing these reflections over the past fifteen years has helped me to learn and grow in faith. Sometimes it has also chastened me by reminding me of the constant need to practice what we have learned as we live out our faith journey together. I am grateful for feedback and encouragement from my fellow travelers.
