Daily Reflections

September 2, 2011 Changing For The Better, Not To The Letter Jesus came teaching and performing miracles. The people were astonished at the newness of His teachings. Some were able to accept them, but others could not. For the Jews, the Torah, the laws given through Moses, was the standard. But the law had developed and its number increased since the time of Moses. In the process, the spirit was lost and had not served as intended. In the words of Jesus, “Sabbath was made for man and not man for Sabbath.” In the Gospel today, Jesus was pointing out their need to go back to the spirit of the law. No one knows the law better than Him. Jesus wanted them to change, not to something really new, but to go back to the original purpose of the law. The parable of the old and new cloth and the old and new wineskin illustrates the tension He was creating with the leaders. When I was still in formation, a new rector came and immediately made changes in our seminary life. Many of us reacted, saying that he should have settled for a while before effecting the changes. But because he was the rector, it was within his authority to do so. We tried to adapt to the changes. At that time, I was the beadle, the seminarian head of the community. One day, I felt I had studied too much and needed a break. After an afternoon class, I asked one of my classmates to play basketball with me. It was 4:30 p.m. and our schedule required that we must all be in by 5:30 p.m. to prepare for the evening prayers. We thought we could make it but we got engrossed with our game and forgot the time. We finished at 5:45 p.m. When we entered the seminary, the rector was there standing, staring at me. He asked why I was not following schedules and even said that I was setting a bad example for the other seminarians. I told him that I was stressed and I needed to release it, which was more important than keeping the time. Schedules are guides in order to get the best formation. Being healthy and conditioned are parts of that formation. I fully respect the schedule but I believe the situation called for fulfilling the spirit of the law than a violation of the law. Fr. Benny Tuazon Reflection Question: Do I take the time to check the spirit of the law before taking someone to account for a violation of a law? Lord, help me to always see the spirit of the law over and above the letter of the law. St. Brocard, pray for us.