Sir. 15:15-20; Ps. 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34: 1 Cor. 2:6-10; Mat. 5:17-37

Keep the commandments by choice to the greatest potential and you too shall live.  Today we are reminded “life and death, good and evil” we receive by choice, we sin by choice, and we walk in the law by choice.  The best choice is to “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’ mean ‘No’.  Anything more is from the evil one”.  “Yes” and “No” are absolutes without preconditions in obedience to the law of God.  What is fear of the Lord?  It is fear of the disobedience of the “law” of God.  “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!”  Follow the law and the choice is the water of holiness and life but choose to disobey the law and the consequence is the fire of sin and death.  The human experience is conditional, negotiable, self-justified. 

The conditional experience asks “What’s in it for me?”  Negotiable in seeking the greater reward for the least sacrifice.  Self-justified with a sense of entitlement.  Conditional, “Going to church every Sunday but what do I get out of it?”  It is negotiable, “As long as I confess my sins God will forgive my sins in the end.”  It is self-justified, “No one is perfect, I have a right to still be angry” as the sun sets on life with no guarantees of tomorrow.  How can we simply do the right thing when our feelings are not there yet ready to accept that choice?  It is an act of the will to say, “I go to church…I avoid the near temptation to sin…I forgive despite my hurt.”  This is following the law of the Lord by choice and the blessings will pour into our lives.  These are conscious free will decisions we choose for the greater glory of God.  Nobody said it was an easy road. 

The “easy road” we follow is to do the least, a minimalist like a child who is told to clean their room and they push everything under the bed that is on the floor.  Is the room clean or simply giving a false illusion?  In the “easy road” we bargain with ourselves, minimize the fault, blame the other, share the guilt, “after all everyone does it” we tell ourselves. We must ask ourselves, “Is this the best of us we offer our God?” 

The best of us begins by making the right choice and trusting in God to get us there.  Choose to go to Mass and expect to receive a blessing from God.  When we expect the best of us, we receive the best God desires to pour into our lives.  Choose to avoid the near occasion of sin even when tempted by the circumstances and our heart remains focused on the good not the bad.  It is tempting to want to blame the other for our weakness rather than to take responsibility for growing in virtue.  Choose to forgive the other so God may heal our hurt and we return to the joy of living.  The right choice produces the right results in the natural law of God, not complicated but challenging. 

The early church was called “the Way”.  It was the way to fulfill “the smallest part of a letter…until all things have taken place.”  To surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees Jesus spoke of was a low bar since it was based on doing the least often in the interest of those same scribes and Pharisees who had the most to gain in their indulgence.  The Way demands the greatest out of us for the “Spirit scrutinizes everything”.  How do we teach others to break the commandments or follow them?  By our example we normalize behavior for the water of blessing or the fire of suffering our sin.  The seed of sin for anger, adultery, swearing, lust lies not in the world for the world is food for the sinner who eats of this flesh.  The seed of sin is already dormant in humanity and waits for the moment to be given life. 

What is wisdom but the foundation of truth!  It is eternal truth that passes through time from generation to generation when we put our trust in him.  Wisdom is seen in our Blessed Mother Mary who chose obedience in the Spirit and was given the crown of glory.  Wisdom “God has revealed to us through the Spirit” received through love of God and the fulfillment of the law of God.  The choice we make makes us unto itself.  Choose laughter and find joy, choose kindness and find peace, choose generosity and find wealth, choose the commandments and find yourself, finally choose prayer and find God.  Do the next right thing and grow in righteousness.  Trust and see by the choice we make “the mysteries of the kingdom”.  Alleluia!  Alleluia!