2024-03-06 15:18:32
Christians, and believers of any religion, are in constant danger of falling into pure and simple obedience to the norm. And, furthermore, when we take that line, the unstoppable tendency is to put all the rules at the same level, with the same importance. In the end, kneeling and making the sign of the cross when entering a church ends up having the same importance as forgiving my brother or opening my hand and sharing with those who are in need. And we end up being presented with the dilemma of the person who is running because he is late for Sunday mass and meets a person who needs his help. And he doesn’t know what to do.
There is another consequence: how it is much easier to worry regarding completing the small details, because we worry regarding that and forget the rest. It’s like when we go to the doctor and he prescribes some pills that we have to take four times a day at set times. That’s relatively easy. We accomplished it without any special problem. The bad thing is when the doctor tells us that we have to change our lifestyle, that we have to eat healthier food, etc. So your “recipe” seems much more difficult for us. And we prefer pills, although we know that they are not the real solution.
The commands and norms referred to in today’s Gospel have little to do with detailed compliance with external norms: kneeling, praying a number of times a day. What Jesus asks of us in the Gospel is that we change our lives, that we open our eyes and hearts to brotherhood. Love. Love as he has loved us. That is the precept. That’s the norm. The only norm. The only law. Everything else is accessory, secondary, our creation, beautiful traditions, which are valid as long as they focus us on the main commandment. But if they divert us, if they make us leave aside the main thing, they end up being more of an opportunity for error than anything else. Let’s focus on what is important so that we are not like the one who pointed his finger at the moon and stayed looking at the finger.
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#Gospel #Reflection #Homily #Wednesday #March
