Mt 5,17-19 – Wednesday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time
Too often we believe that Christianity is a liberation from rules. In reality the Gospel does not free us from the rules, but it frees us from a wrong way of living them. Jesus did not come to abolish the Lawbut to show its deeper meaning. Rules, when they are healthy, do not serve to limit life, but to protect it and make it flourish.
Let’s think about a recipe: following a few instructions doesn’t ruin the party, but it makes a good dessert possible. Likewise, the rules of life are not obstacles to happiness, but paths that help us achieve it. The problem arises when we reduce everything to a set of external obligations or, on the contrary, when we think we can live following only what we feel in the moment. Jesus teaches us a mature relationship with the Law. He shows us that the center is not the rule itself, but the love that that rule wants to safeguard.
This is why in the Gospel he fights legalism, but not obedience. He contests moralism, but not the truth. He denounces the hypocrisy of those who outwardly observe the commandments without allowing their hearts to change. Without a rule, in fact, our life risks becoming a confusing tangle of whims, desires, fears, enthusiasms and disappointments. It resembles a river in flood that overwhelms everything it encounters instead of flowing towards a goal.
Authentic rules are like the banks of that river: they do not suffocate its strength, but allow it to become fruitful. This is why today’s Gospel asks us some decisive questions. Around what criteria am I building my life? Christian maturity consists in rediscovering that the true rule is Christ himself. When He becomes the center, the Law is no longer a chain, but a road that leads to freedom.
