What if we only had a few weeks left to live?

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ: We are now only a few weeks away from Easter. Jesus is fully aware of his fate and is trying to tell his apostles what is getting ready to happen. Unfortunately, they are too dense to understand. What if we only had a few weeks left to live? Would we be ready to enter the Kingdom of Heaven ? Or, are we hoping we can re-adjust our life later? Or have we fallen into a “just-get-by” attitude. In today’s reading (Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9), Moses tells us that if we want to enter the Promised Land, we must follow God’s commandments. It is not just enough to know the commandments, we must live the commandments; otherwise, how will the pagan world learn who is the one true God. The Ten Commandments are not just an arbitrary set of rules, but a set of rules that has governed a people for more than 4,000 years. This is older than any other set of laws in the world. Just think of the laws in the United States . Congress passes a law. We have to pass a new law to help explain the old law. Then we have to modify the first because the second wasn’t quite good enough. The 10 commandments have been solid for 4,000 years. In today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:17-19), Jesus tells us, “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.” Jesus is telling us that this is the law and the law will not be modified by a Congressional Hearing, a Senate subcommittee of a Veto by the President. This is the Law – follow it. Moses not only tells us that we must live the commandments, but we must also “teach them to our children and our children’s children.” The teaching of Jesus in today’s Gospel slightly modifies this decree. Jesus says, “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.” When we are born, God gives us a great Grace, the ability to judge between right and wrong, the ability to choose between good and evil. He gives us a conscience. It was this natural ability that ruled the land before we were given the Ten Commandments. But because of our fallibility and propensity to sin, God gave us the written law, the holy profits, and the Lord Jesus Christ to help awaken our conscience and to bring it to life. So it is up to us to either keep our conscience buried or to let it shine in us and illuminate the world. In Jesus Christ, the eternal “Word was made flesh” for our salvation. We should glorify his teachings and make sure we illuminate the rest of the world by our example. Jesus didn’t come to this earth just to tell us that we need to follow the Law, he showed us how to follow the law. He showed us what the law really means. He commanded us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind, and our neighbors as ourselves” (Matthew 22:37-39). If we are satisfied with just going to church on Sundays and occasionally praying, do we really love our God with all our heart and soul? So “What Would Jesus Do?” This Lent is a chance for us to shine, for us to awaken the fire God gave us through our baptism, a chance for us to reach out to others. It is time for you to develop trust in the Lord. It might be time to pull back out those WWJD bands. A Simple Prayer “Holy Spirit, give me more of you! I want to put into practice all that you have placed in my yheart. Give me yearning to hear from you in prayer, And to walk with you throughout my day! I know that’s the only way I will be able to draw others to you. You desire a willing heart, and so I answer – Yes Lord! I will.” Yours in Christ Michael Marcon