Our Gospels today, from the Sermon on the Mount, is about commandments. Jesus puts himself in the tradition of Moses, giver of commandments, and he says: Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Rules are not our favorite thing, are they? We want to be free, and so sometimes we feel hemmed in by laws, procedures, customs. It takes spiritual maturity and humility to realize that these things, though they sometimes seem burdensome, actually nourish us and our relationships. Traffic rules chart courses to get us to our destinations efficiently. When I taught high school and college, good students would not choose electives offered by teachers whose classrooms were chaotic. Children need schedules of sleep and activity to develop properly. Relationships need a certain amount of presence, honesty and communication or they die, and so couples establish expectations about that. Our presence at Sunday Mass is still a rule of the Church. It is a rule that helps us “show up” before the Lord even when we might not feel like it, so that we can nourish our relationship with God and our fellow Catholics in the midst of our very busy lives. As strange as it might feel, this week consider how the rules that govern your life might be helping you become your best self!
– Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia