10TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 1 / (Green)
Ps 99:5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Holy is the Lord our God.
1st Reading: 2 Cor 3:4-11
This is how we are sure of God, through Christ. As for us, we would not dare consider that something comes from us: our ability comes from God. He has even enabled us to be ministers of a new covenant, no longer depending on a written text, but on the Spirit. The written text kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The ministry of the law carved on stones brought death; it was, nevertheless, surrounded by glory, and, we know, that the Israelites could not fix their eyes on the face of Moses, such was his radiance, though fleeting. How much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be! If there is greatness in a ministry which used to condemn, how much more will there be, in the ministry that brings holiness? This is such a glorious thing that, in comparison, the former’s glory is like nothing. That ministry was provisory and had only moments of glory; but ours endures, with a lasting glory.
Gospel: Mt 5:17-19
Do not think that I have come to annul the law and the prophets. I have not come to annul them, but to fulfill them. I tell you this: as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or dot in the law will change, until all is fulfilled.
So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys them, and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the kingdom of heaven.
REFLECTION:
Sometimes we think that the radical teachings of Jesus springs from His freedom to set aside the Law and proceed instead to do what He wants. On second glance, we realize that the uniqueness and originality of the Lord that sets Him apart from the teachers of that time is His capacity to let loose the liberating power of the Law by fulfilling not its letter but its spirit. That is why the Lord can claim that He does not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it to its fullest intent and meaning. For no Laws that emanate from the will of God is meant to oppress His people. They were crafted to safeguard and guarantee their freedom, the freedom that God gifted His people when He created them. And so, obeying God’s will is not to be a slave to Him but to realize and find the highest expression of our freedom.
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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