THE WORD
Dt 4,1.5-9 / Mt 5,17-19
Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches
others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys
and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
IN OTHER WORDS
Even little children understand that there are some things you better get right and understand to be true, or you get yourself into big trouble. I came across a little document entitled: “Great truths about life that little children have learned.” Here are some of them:
“No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize cats.
When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.
If your sister hits you don’t hit her back; they always catch the second person.
Never ask your three-year-old brother to hold a tomato.
You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.
Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac.
Never hold a dust buster and a cat at the same time.
You cannot hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
Don’t wear polka dot underwear under white shorts.” (James Merrit, You Had Better Get It Right)
Working here in Switzerland, I have noticed that there are rules to be observed too in order to put things right. And certainly there are things that we have to do rightly if we want to be near and close to God or if we want our names to be written on the list of Christians.
Today’s gospel, Matthew 5:17-19, is exactly the absolute basis for truth, for law, for morals, for what is right, and for what is wrong and putting things in order. The Gospels reminds us three things: firrst, not to deny God’s truth; second, not to disobey God’s truth and; lastly not to distort God’s truth. If you intend to be pleasing to God and your brothers and sisters then you had better get that right.
- Fr. Antonio “Onyot” Enerio, SVD | (Switzerland)
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
