Choosing Life

Dear Friends,     

Our readings today take their cue from a phrase in Deuteronomy 30: “Hear O Lord,” says Yahweh. “I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. Choose life and you will live.”

No one of us would ever deny we want to choose life. The problem is recognizing what life really is.

In the work of creating life, our culture embraces the new. “New” is the most frequently used word in marketing. The second most frequently used word is “improved.” Most of the time, they go together: new and improved. And whatever is new and improved appeals to the listener, the reader, the consumer as superior to what is being replaced. Newness sells.

Jesus did not have much market appeal when he told His listeners in the Sermon on the Mount that he did not come to abolish the Law and the prophets but to fulfill them. At first glance, it seems there was nothing new and improved about that, but actually there was. What was new was that Jesus was bent on fulfilling the Law, not merely literally keeping it.

We know from other Gospel stories that Jesus broke the rules of ritual obligation on numerous occasions – when these did not serve compassion and human need. Jesus was that free.

But when the Law touched the essence of human life and relationships, Jesus reinterpreted the Law in a far more demanding way.

Jesus tells us today that when we denigrate, despise, exclude, refuse to communicate honestly, we do violence to others. These may not be murder – but they are destructive behaviors. Evasions, deceit and half-truths weaken the fabric of integrity that holds life together. Jesus calls us to the fullness of the Law – to make free choices that are wise and generous and interpret the Law in a freeing, creative way.

Years ago, the movie Amadeus contrasted Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with another composer of stature named Antonio Salieri. Salieri composed carefully with attention to form. He played with great technical precision. Salieri kept the law of musical composition and rendition. Mozart also knew the rules of music, but he was not burdened by them.

In one of the film’s pivotal scenes, Mozart added a few touches of this genius to one of Salieri’s compositions, and gave his listeners a lively, memorable melody. Mozart’s innovation increased Salieri’s animosity and according to the story, blocked Mozart from the king’s favor. Increased poverty, illness and finally the death of Mozart at 35 followed.

As a rule-keeper, Salieri resented Mozart’s reinterpretations of musical law and his free spirit. Both Jesus and Mozart would have led easier, longer lives if they had adhered to the letter of the law. But the fulfillment of the Law, the grasp of the depth of the law was more important to them.

Scanning the many incidents in the Gospel where the opponents of Jesus deride Him for His attitude toward the Law, we see that, for Jesus, fulfilling the Law has to do with being creative in our human relationships, taking the initiative in bringing about reconciliation, recognizing that external actions are good or bad depending on what’s in the heart and mind of the person interpreting the law.

It takes a certain wisdom to live like this. Paul today encourages us to find and put into practice the wisdom of God in all that we do. This wisdom is cultivated by each person who makes a commitment to choosing life.

~Sister Joan Sobala