Feb
27
2008
By Anonymous (not verified)
Feb. 27
Readings: Deut 4:1,5-9; Mt 5:17-19
"Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Mt 5:19
Shouldn't "Live and learn" be the title of this meditation? Don't we have things backwards?
Both of today's readings tell us there's life in learning and following God's commandments. "You, who clung to the Lord, your God, are all alive today," Deuteronomy 4 reminds us. Those who followed Baal were destroyed. The reading in Matthew 5 tells us that keeping the law of the commandments will affect our place in the next life - in the kingdom of heaven.
But, after we learn our lessons, is that all there is?
"Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:19).
Saint Patrick, for one, went to great extremes to answer that call to teach. It was about 1,500 years ago. While still in his teens, Patrick was captured and brought to Ireland. He worked there as a shepherd for about six years before he was able to escape. But, he was convinced that he should return to Ireland to convert the country to Christianity.
By the time of his death, the practices of human sacrifice and slavery were abolished. And seeds were planted that would lead to the Irish monasteries where monks painstakingly preserved and copied the Bible.
Saint Patrick heroically returned to a country that had enslaved him, and there he taught about the commandments and Christianity.
How are you called to teach others about life in Jesus?
Dear Lord, I want to cling to You - my Source of life - and to know You better through my reading of the Holy Scriptures. Help me to teach others about You by word and deed. Amen.
Scripture
Prov 9:9
Mt 28:16-20
Catechism
2221-26
Diary of St. Faustina
580, 965, 1396
Readings: Deut 4:1,5-9; Mt 5:17-19
"Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Mt 5:19
Shouldn't "Live and learn" be the title of this meditation? Don't we have things backwards?
Both of today's readings tell us there's life in learning and following God's commandments. "You, who clung to the Lord, your God, are all alive today," Deuteronomy 4 reminds us. Those who followed Baal were destroyed. The reading in Matthew 5 tells us that keeping the law of the commandments will affect our place in the next life - in the kingdom of heaven.
But, after we learn our lessons, is that all there is?
"Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:19).
Saint Patrick, for one, went to great extremes to answer that call to teach. It was about 1,500 years ago. While still in his teens, Patrick was captured and brought to Ireland. He worked there as a shepherd for about six years before he was able to escape. But, he was convinced that he should return to Ireland to convert the country to Christianity.
By the time of his death, the practices of human sacrifice and slavery were abolished. And seeds were planted that would lead to the Irish monasteries where monks painstakingly preserved and copied the Bible.
Saint Patrick heroically returned to a country that had enslaved him, and there he taught about the commandments and Christianity.
How are you called to teach others about life in Jesus?
Dear Lord, I want to cling to You - my Source of life - and to know You better through my reading of the Holy Scriptures. Help me to teach others about You by word and deed. Amen.
Scripture
Prov 9:9
Mt 28:16-20
Catechism
2221-26
Diary of St. Faustina
580, 965, 1396
aggB