Golden Rules

by Orlando Hernandez

The psalm that was read in last Sunday’s mass (3rd Sunday of Lent) is one of my most beloved: Psalm 19. The first half of this psalm reminds us to be open to the glory of God when we experience the beauty and power of nature. The second half (which was quoted in the mass) leads us to appreciate that this same beauty and power manifests itself in the ordinances and commandments which our religion offers us: “They are more precious than gold,/ than a heap of purest gold;/ sweeter also than syrup/ or honey from the comb.” (v. 11)

All those restrictions and rules? Come on! Maybe necessary, but “sweet” ?

Then, the readings from this third week of Lent, and from the previous weeks, expect even more from us. On Tuesday’s Gospel, our Lord Jesus commands us to forgive and keep forgiving, or else be handed “over to the torturers,” like the king did to the selfish servant.Jesus warns us: “So will my Heavenly Father do to you, unless each one of you forgives your brother from your heart .” (Mt 18: 35)

As for those Ten Commandments we read last Sunday, we must obey them in the name of Jesus, who says on this Wednesday’s Gospel: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Mt 5: 17) This fulfillment seems to come with more “rules” to follow. The eight beatitudes, though beautiful, pose a great challenge to us in order to get those heavenly blessings! And Matthew 25, invokes us to get off our sofas and go out and help our suffering sisters and brothers!

On this Friday’s Gospel He tells us to “Love the Lord our God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength .”
(Mk 12: 30), and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (v. 31)

For years, the “teenager” in me chafed at all these admonitions. Frankly, all this would have been impossible for me if it had not been for God’s gift of prayer. In prayer the Lord somehow shows me again and again how much He loves me. It is this Love that gives me strength . It is this Love that leads me to truly follow that first commandment, for He has won my heart. It is this Love that helps me to begin to understand that all these “ordinances” are really ways to bring love (sweeter than honey!),compassion, peace, and justice to this world that suffers. These rules, which I believe are written in the hearts of every human being on earth are what keep us from utter chaos and destruction. In the end they are not burdens. They are graces that free us from the burden of hopelessness. Prayer, the constant seeking for that luminous, divine guidance, is the gateway to that Love, the power that helps us to believe that peace in this world is possible, that pushes us to work and fight for that peace, which is more precious “than a heap of purest gold”.

These two men that I really admire put it better than me. Fr. Robert Lauder wrote in “The Tablet” about the challenges of following the commandments :

“Of course it would be impossible if we were alone, but we are not. In our journey through life, which is an adventure in love, we have been given by Christ a companion. With the Holy Spirit forming, shaping and inspiring us, what we might have initially thought of as impossible becomes possible. The Holy Spirit is Infinite Love. With Infinite Love as our companion, can anything be impossible?”

Fr. Martin Coffey, in his keynote address to the St Paul of the Cross Province Assembly in January 2018, points to prayer at the foot of the Cross as the place where we find the meaning of, and the motivation to follow these” precepts “ that the Gospel urges us to observe:

“On the Cross God and humanity are embraced in a bond that can never be broken. Jesus is true God and true man. On the Cross the true God is revealed for our worship and the true man appeals for our compassion and love. The true worship of God and the true compassionate love of our brothers and sisters flow from the memory of the Passion.”

May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts.

Orlando Hernandez