Commentary
Sunday, July 14, 2019, Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Why We Should Obey the Commandments
First Reading Commentary: Deuteronomy 30:10-14
Moses told the people that keeping God’s commandments was something very near to them, in their hearts and all they had to do was to carry them out.
We do know what God’s commandments are and it is a simple thing to just carry them out. But it is not an easy thing to do. The evil one throws temptations in front of us constantly and because of our desire to fulfill physical pleasures which makes us weak; we sin.
It is not our intent to seek evil and we do not desire evil. God did not make us that way. He made us in His image and likeness. But in our humanity, we are weak and we live in the moment which is okay except that we take our eyes off of the prize which is eternal happiness and give in to the sinful deeds of the moment turning our backs on God’s commandments. When we do that, we also turn our backs on our future.
The message from Moses is to obey the Ten Commandments which we should know and understand, because they are clear. But our faith in God and love for God should be such that we would obey the commandments from the heart.
Being able to recite the commandments means nothing, if we do not obey them. Likewise, obeying the commandments without having faith in God, and without having love for God; will not guarantee our salvation. That is because, to know God is to have faith in Him and love Him. If we do not know God, He will not know us on the last day.
Doing our best to obey the commandments from the heart is a demonstration of our faith in and love for God. Yes, we will fall because we are not perfect. We make mistakes because of the weakness of our humanity but God is all-merciful and forgiving. So, if we love God and put our faith in Him; we will be saved.
Jesus Christ Is Above All Things
Second Reading Commentary: Colossians 1:15-20
In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul tells us that Christ is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of all creation. He wrote, “For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible…all things were created through him and for him.”
Paul is proclaiming the divinity of Christ as the Alpha and Omega, God who took on human form and that the Father created all things through the Son for Him.
Paul continued, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Christ is the head of the body, the church.” As individual parts of the Mystical Body; Christ holds all of us who believe together and Christ is before all things because He was there at the time of creation.
Paul tells us that Christ is, “…the first born from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent.” Christ is the first and only person to rise from the dead under His own power. In doing so, Christ defeated death. Christ performed many works before His crucifixion that tell us that He is God. But in His victory over death, Christ provided His most powerful testimony and demonstration that He is God and above all things.
What Paul tells us at the end of this part of his letter is that those who believe in Christ and accept Him as the Son dwell in Him. This is another proclamation that we are a part of the Mystical Body.
Christ came to reconcile our sins and make peace by His blood on the cross. It was through Christ that we were created and it is through Christ because of His Blood on the cross that we will enter the Kingdom.
The concluding doxology of the Eucharistic prayer during Mass is, “Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.” This is Paul’s message even though the Holy Spirit is not specifically mentioned in this part of his letter. Everything comes from the Father through the Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit. For this, we should give all glory and praise and honor.
Go and Do the Same
Gospel Commentary: Luke 10:25-37
A scholar asked Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” So, Jesus asked him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” Jesus wanted the scholar’s interpretation of the law and the scholar said, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” The scholar’s answer was the Greatest Commandments put into his own words and Jesus told the scholar that he had answered correctly. But the scholar was looking to justify himself so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus then gave the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man fell victim to robbers and was left have-dead. A priest passed him by and a Levite also passed him by. Then a Samaritan came and was moved with compassion. He tended to the man and took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day, he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and instructed the inn keeper to take care of the man and promised that when he returned, he would repay the inn keeper whatever additional money he spent.
Jesus then asked the scholar, “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robber's victim?” The scholar answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”
The scholar wanted to make himself look good in front of Jesus but Jesus let the scholar know that his being able to recite and interpret the law was meaningless unless he also lived by the law putting it into practice. The priest and the Levite both knew the law but neither one of them practiced the law when they saw the robber’s victim.
There are a lot of people who can rattle off the commandments and passages from Scripture like parrots but do not live by what they recite. God is not impressed by such people. What matters to God is that we truly understand and live by the law because of our faith in Him and our love for Him.
I have commented before that you cannot love God with all that you are and have if you do not love your neighbor as yourself. Likewise, you cannot love your neighbor as yourself if you do not love God with everything that you are. Obey the Greatest Commandments, That, is the message that Jesus gave the scholar and that same message is our message today.
