We all have busy schedules. Between work, school, responsibilities and social lives, where can we squeeze in the time to focus on developing a deeper relationship with Our Heavenly Father? That’s why St. Juliana Parish has brought you the one spot where you can pray, learn and reflect!
Moses spoke to the people and said:
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
– – –
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Feast date: Mar 26
St. Margaret Clitherow was born in Middleton, England around the year 1555 to a protestant family. Margaret was known throughout the town for her wit and good looks, and in 1571 she married John Clitherow, and together they bore two children.
Several years after her marriage to John, Margaret was introduced to the Catholic faith, and converted. She was a zealous defender of Catholicism and hid fugitive priests in her home. Eventually, Margaret was turned in to the sheriff and tried for the crime of harboring Catholic priests.
While Margaret was on trial, many efforts were made to encourage her to deny the Catholic faith, but she held firmly. Finally, Margaret was condemned to be pressed to death upon sharp rocks. She was executed on March 25, 1586.
Pope Paul VI canonized Margaret in 1970.
Thousands of years of salvation history were fulfilled with the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. The long-awaited Messiah had come. So that’s it? Show’s over? Hardly.
The arrival of our Savior ushered in the last chapter of salvation history where all that was promised to God’s chosen people was fulfilled in his Son. His followers then embark on a new journey to share the Good News. We do not throw out the old for the new. Rather, the old provides a firm foundation on which to build the new. As Fr. Thomas Weinandy explains, “By contemplating Scripture within the living apostolic tradition, the Church grows, throughout the ages, in its understanding of what has been divinely revealed. Development of doctrine is this growth in understanding and expression of what has been revealed.” (Weinandy, Fr. Thomas, O.F.M. CAP. “What Does it Mean for Doctrine to Develop?” Catholic.com. May 2, 2020 para 20)
Some aspects of the Church have developed over the years in order to reflect greater wisdom and understanding of revealed Truth, but nothing new in the Church replaces or contradicts what came before it. Just as a parent’s rules for her children adapt as the child grows up, but the foundational basis of those rules remains the same – to help the child develop conscience and a moral compass. The expression of God’s guidance for us has also evolved over time, but the foundational Truth of those rules has not changed, nor can it. Our perfect Heavenly Father put His commandments in place not for His good, but for ours, and they are not ours to change.
God’s rules, His commands, His demands of us, can be seen as limits to our freedom, but they are quite the opposite. Those perfect fences actually expand our freedom. Playground builders found that in playgrounds designed without fences, children tended to stay near the center of the play space, close to their caregivers. In playgrounds that included fencing, though, children explored much a broader space, feeling safer and freer within the defined limits. God provides the playgrounds of our lives with similar limits – not barriers to our freedom, but defining how we can most fully explore that freedom.
Throughout history there have been grumblings that the Church must pull down those fences, must get with the times and accommodate shifting cultural mores. The parable of GK Chesterton’s fence reminds us that before we do away with a particular barrier, it is important to understand why it was put in place. Before any of us “relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so” in the name of well-meaning but misplaced compassion or progress, perhaps we need to have the humility to explore why God built those fences in the first place. Ultimately, when we put our trust in God’s design, our freedom will be fuller.
Miles de años de historia de la salvación se cumplieron con el misterio pascual de Jesucristo. El Mesías tan esperado había llegado. ¿Así que ya estuvo? ¿Se acabó el show? Para nada.
La llegada de nuestro Salvador marcó el comienzo del último capítulo de la historia de la salvación, donde todo lo prometido al pueblo elegido de Dios se cumplió en su Hijo. Luego sus seguidores se embarcan a una nueva aventura para compartir la Buena Nueva. No desechamos lo viejo por lo nuevo. Más bien, lo viejo proporciona una base firme sobre la cual construir lo nuevo. Como explica el Padre Thomas Weinandy: “Al contemplar la Escritura dentro de la tradición apostólica viva, la Iglesia crece, a lo largo de los siglos, en su comprensión de lo que ha sido divinamente revelado. El desarrollo de la doctrina es este crecimiento en la comprensión y expresión de lo que ha sido revelado”. (Weinandy, Fr. Thomas, O.F.M. CAP. “What Does it Mean for Doctrine to Develop?” Catholic.com. 2 de mayo de 2020, traducción de una parte del párrafo 20)
Algunos aspectos de la Iglesia se han desarrollado a lo largo de los años para reflejar una mayor sabiduría y comprensión de la Verdad revelada, pero nada nuevo en la Iglesia reemplaza o contradice lo que vino antes. Así como las reglas de un padre para sus hijos se adaptan a medida que el niño crece, pero la base fundamental de esas reglas sigue siendo la misma: ayudar al niño a desarrollar la conciencia y una moral rectora. La expresión de la guía de Dios para nosotros también ha evolucionado con el tiempo, pero la Verdad fundamental de esas reglas no ha cambiado, ni puede hacerlo. Nuestro Padre Celestial perfecto puso sus mandamientos en su lugar no para su bien, sino para el nuestro, y no son nuestros para cambiarlos.
Las reglas de Dios, sus mandamientos, sus demandas para nosotros, pueden verse como límites a nuestra libertad, pero son todo lo contrario. Esas vallas perfectas en realidad expanden nuestra libertad. Los constructores de parques infantiles descubrieron que en los diseñados sin vallas, los niños tendían a permanecer cerca del centro del espacio de juego, cerca de sus cuidadores. Sin embargo, en los que sí tenían vallas, los niños exploraban un espacio mucho más amplio, sintiéndose más seguros y libres dentro de los límites definidos. Dios proporciona a los parques infantiles de nuestra vida límites semejantes: no barreras a la libertad, sino que definen cómo podemos explorar esa libertad al máximo.
A lo largo de la historia ha habido quejas de que la Iglesia debe derribar esas vallas, adaptarse a los tiempos y adaptarse a las costumbres culturales cambiantes. La parábola de la valla de GK Chesterton nos recuerda que antes de eliminar una barrera en particular, es importante entender por qué se puso en ese lugar. Antes de que cualquiera de nosotros “relaje uno de estos mandamientos más pequeños y enseñe a los hombres a hacer lo mismo” en nombre de una compasión o un progreso bien intencionados pero fuera de lugar, tal vez debamos tener la humildad de explorar por qué Dios construyó esas vallas desde un principio. Al final, cuando ponemos la confianza en el diseño de Dios, nuestra libertad será más plena.
Pamela Kavanaugh is a grateful wife, mother, and grandmother who has dedicated her professional life to Catholic education. Though she has done her very best to teach her students well in the subjects of language and religion, she knows that she has learned more than she has taught. She lives, teaches, and writes in southwest suburban Chicago.
Feature Image Credit: James Coleman, https://unsplash.com/photos/green-grass-field-during-daytime-bJAeszSaiTY
The views and opinions expressed in the Inspiration Daily blog are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Diocesan, the Diocesan staff, or other contributors to this blog.
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