Unreserved Obedience (Wed of Lent 3)

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9 ; Matthew 5:17-19

WE BESEECH thee, almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of thy humble servants: and stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty; to be our defence against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

 

The Agony in the Garden - "...not my will be done, but thine"

Unreserved Obedience

The way of Christ is the way of obedience. Jesus was obedient to His Father always. Today we are reluctant to obey unreservedly. Somehow it seems a backward or unsophisticated thing to do. Modern man is surely much more subtle and learned to not need to obey like that? So instead of obeying freely we reserve the right to question everything and decide whether to obey or not – and we do this even with God! We have made ourselves the masters and we do not like the idea of making someone else our master.

The way of Christ is obedience even when it means suffering. The way of Christ means saying with Our Lady, “Be it done unto me according to thy word.” The way of Christ is obedience because it is obedience to an entirely trustworthy Person – God the Father. God the Father can always be trusted. Does a father give his son a stone when he asks for bread? Even if our Heavenly Father allows us to suffer we can be sure there is a very good reason for it and the outcome will be good for us.

Christ Jesus came not to abolish the Jewish Law. He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets in His very self. When He died sacrificially on the cross He fulfilled and completed all the laws of ritual and sacrifice. In the New Covenant all ritual and sacrifice is focused on the Cross. The moral law of the Old Testament was not abolished but deepened. Not only was the moral law still to be obeyed in the New Covenant but it was located on a deeper and more demanding level – the level of the heart. We are to still obey the Ten Commandments but now at a much deeper and demanding level.

So are we willing to obey God the Father as Christ Jesus did? Do we trust the Heavenly Father? This was at the heart of the first sin, and thus at the heart of all sin – do I trust God the Father, or do I think He has a secret agenda against me? The serpent tempted Eve to believe the latter. Our Lady believed the former. She trusted and obeyed.

Psalm 147

Laudate Dominum

O PRAISE the Lord, for it is a good thing to sing praises unto our God :

yea, a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful.

2. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem : and gather together the out-casts of Israel.

3. He healeth those that are broken in heart : and giveth medicine to heal their sickness.

4. He telleth the number of the stars : and calleth them all by their names.

5. Great is our Lord, and great is his power : yea, and his wisdom is infinite.

6. The Lord setteth up the meek : and bringeth the ungodly down to the ground.

7. O sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving : sing praises upon the harp unto our God;

8. Who covereth the heavens with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth : and maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains, and herb for the use of men;

9. Who giveth fodder unto the cattle : and feedeth the young ravens that call upon him.

10. He hath no pleasure in the strength of an horse : neither delighteth he in any man's legs.

11. But the Lord's delight is in them that fear him : and put their trust in his mercy.

12. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem : praise thy God, O Sion.

13. For he hath made fast the bars of thy gates : and hath blessed thy children within thee.

14. He maketh peace in thy borders : and filleth thee with the flour of wheat.

15. He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth : and his word runneth very swiftly.

16. He giveth snow like wool : and scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes.

17. He casteth forth his ice like morsels : who is able to abide his frost?

18. He sendeth out his word, and melteth them : he bloweth with his wind, and the waters flow.

19. He sheweth his word unto Jacob : his statutes and ordinances unto Israel.

20. He hath not dealt so with any nation : neither have the heathen knowledge of his laws.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting out sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.