The Jewish people call the book of Deuteronomy by the Hebrew title Torah or Pentateuch.  Deuteronomy emphasizes love and religion based on heart and soul, these are the fundamental direction and purpose of our life.

Moses told his people, “Take these words of mine into your heart and soul.”  He reminded the people of Israel and he reminds us that the most important thing in this life is our relationship with God.

  

In Psalm 86 we pray to God, “… incline your ear to me, make haste to deliver me …. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me ….”  This psalm encourages us to pray for the Lord’s presence in our lives; assured that God is with us.

St. Paul teaches us that the initiative of salvation comes from God and that it is a free gift.  How we respond to God’s gift of salvation, either nourishes our faith or impedes our it.

The athletic skills of athletes who don’t regularly workout will deteriorate; the same is true with the gift of faith.  Jesus tells us “… only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” will enter the Kingdom of heaven.  In the Sermon on the Mount Matthew Jesus gives us the new Torah.  Being a disciple of Christ is hard work.  It takes a daily decision, followed by choices throughout the day to live that commitment.

This week when you come to the altar either in person or virtually, first focus on the bread and wine offered to God, second rejoice because God returns them to us as the body and blood of his Beloved Son (through the mystery of Transubstantiation).  Third, imagine on that altar, not only the bread and wine offered, but also, your acts of mercy, compassion, justice, forgiveness, the meal you prepared for a sick friend/neighbor, the storybook you read to your child at bedtime.  Offer all the stuff of life, including the current dislocations in our COVID 19 Pandemic lives.

 

Jesus wants us to receive Him in the Eucharist, and He wants us to put into practice the Sermon on the Mount.  St. Augustine wrote that we are: “A Mind through which Christ thinks, A Heart through which Christ loves, A Voice through which Christ speaks, A Hand through which Christ helps.” 

Are you building your faith house on the rock of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount or on the sands of consumerism and relativism?

May God Be Blessed!