Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

I have come not to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them.



I find two models of the ideal Christian in our tradition; and while they agree on the worship of Jesus, they contradict one another.


Saint Paul may be the more important, at least in American spirituality. We imagine him as a fire-breathing, death-dealing Pharisee marching with his henchman toward Damascus to smash the new Christian religion once and for all. Suddenly he was knocked from his horse and heard the voice of Jesus challenging him, “Why do you persecute me?” From that moment “Paul” -- who was no longer “Saul” --converted to a new way of life, deeply regretted his past sinfulness and became Jesus’ greatest and most influential apostle.


The model of Saint Paul is conversion, or metanoia. It is a complete turnaround, or rather a “turn inside out” as you would a sock. Everything of the past is renounced. As Saint Francis said, “What I once loved I now despise; what I despised I love.” American Christians expect this rebirth, renouncing the old ways of sin with its practices of alcoholism, smoking, gambling and lust.


The other Christian ideal is the Virgin Mary. She was conceived without sin and grew from grace to grace. She did not sin, or even doubt, on any occasion. Whether fleeing into Egypt or standing at the cross, she remained submissive and open to the grace of God. It seems that some people are born within the Catholic and Christian fold. They grow up conscious of their sins and continually finding forgiveness, and never straying too far from the right path. They are “once-born,” as opposed to the reborn.


I find in today’s passage from the Sermon on the Mount a reconciliation of these opposites. There is much in every person’s life that is beautiful. Even our sinful past is not irredeemable. When I meet people who want to quit smoking I ask, “What’s good about smoking?” They have to recognize its soothing, medicinal effect if they would surrender the habit to God, who can provide other and better ways to soothe and heal. Adulterers were overwhelmed by the goodness of their lovers. Can they thank God for that beauty as they turn away from sin? Greed seeks security in this world’s uncertainty. That’s not an evil impulse, but its only satisfaction is faith in God’s providence.


Jesus has come not to abolish but to fulfill. Grace finds goodness in our nature, delivers it from sin and turns it to the way of salvation.