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Gospel Reflection for Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Forgetful?
Today, the readings from the Old Testament and the Gospel go hand in hand. But there are two very interesting things in the Exodus reading that may have been forgotten: it equates the observance of God’s laws and commandments with intelligence and wisdom. It also warns of the need to remember, to always keep these things in mind, and to pass them on to our children, and our children’s children, and their children after them… ad infinitum.
Jesus assures us that He did not come to abolish all that from the Old Covenant, but rather to fulfill it. Yet, at times, it seems we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater… The old, the ancient, the “God of the Old Testament” seems to have to make way for something else. And so, it’s no longer necessary to pass on all those commandments that some might find imposing or oppressive. Memory is no longer needed, and a certain form of intelligence seems to have been repealed or, in the worst cases, “outgrown.” But is it really more intelligent to kill an unborn baby, lie in business or in a double life, covet what belongs to others, envy to the point of violence, speak crudely, abandon one’s parents, indulge in pornography, steal, or defraud? If you listen to the daily news, it might seem that the powers of this world thrive and grow stronger through these practices… and that they are winning. And that, perhaps on a smaller scale but no less seriously, every person who gives in to these currents is also winning. And yet, the wisdom and intelligence promised in the Old Testament is the same that Christ affirms: “Those who keep these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom.”
Who will we listen to? As children of an era of enormous technological advances and human progress, we might think that our task is to outgrow the old law and live with greater freedom. As Christians, today it seems we are being told that such “progress” would actually make us more brutish, less wise, clumsier, and even less human. Christ has come to fulfill what is true, good, and beautiful. And, like Moses in the Old Testament, He sets it before us. The choice is ours. Perhaps it’s better not to be forgetful.