Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

–   For all of us in the Church, that we may have enough love to obey the commandments to know and practice that they show our love of God and of neighbour, we pray:

–   For priests, that in the sacrament of reconciliation they may let sinners feel the patience and the compassion of God, we pray:

–   For all of us, that we may ask ourselves not what we are obliged to do but what we can do for God and one another, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

God our Father,

In this eucharist, we celebrate the new covenant
brought us by your Son Jesus Christ.
All that we can offer you
Is our openness to your initiative of love
freely given and shared.
Make us ministers
of your adventure with us
of intimate and lasting friendship.
We ask you this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,

We have listened to the Word of your Son
and eaten his refreshing bread.
As he was not afraid
of committing himself to fickle people,
we ask you to liberate our faith
from banality and routine
and to help us to commit ourselves to others
without fear or conditions.
For you loved us first
In Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing

We live under the law of the new covenant, where the key to all laws and observances is love. May we understand and live by this love, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

REFLECTIONS

Matthew 5:17-19

Accompanying in Humility

“Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:19)

Today's readings emphasise the Law as a gift from God, not a distant commandment, but an expression of His love and closeness. Moses declares, “Indeed, what great nation is there that has gods so close to it, as the Lord our God is close to us whenever we call to Him?” (Dt 4:7). God desires to accompany His people, guiding them with love and care.

Throughout salvation history, God's closeness is met with contrasting human responses. In Genesis, Adam and Eve hide from God after their sin, and later Cain refuses responsibility for his brother (cf. Gen 3:8-10; 4:9). Sin creates distance, fostering fear and self-centeredness. Yet, God's love never wavers—He draws even nearer, offering His presence despite human rejection.

Jesus exemplifies God's ultimate act of closeness. By becoming one of us, He embraces our frailty and endures death on the cross for our salvation. His humility shows that God's intimacy is not defined by power, but by vulnerability and love.

The Gospel challenges us to reflect this divine closeness in our lives. Lent calls us to break down walls of isolation and accompany one another with tenderness and compassion. Even when physical distance separates us, we can express nearness through prayer, kindness, and solidarity.

Let us ask the Lord for the grace to be people of nearness—ready to walk alongside others with humility and love, just as God walks with us.

Lord, you are the God of nearness, always present in our lives. Fill our hearts with humility and compassion, that we may accompany others as you accompany us. Amen.

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Matthew 5:17-19

Anything against love is not from God

Matthew’s gospel is primarily written for converts from Jewish backgrounds. Although they accepted the faith in Jesus and became part of the community, it was not easy for them to give up their Jewish practices and traditions. Hence, we find both Paul and Matthew go out of their way to assure Jewish converts that Christianity is not a rejection of Judaism, but rather a continuation and development of Judaism.

So, in today’s passage, which continues the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus solemnly assures his listeners that he has not come to terminate the Law but to bring it to a higher level. To give a rough example, we could compare it to upgrading a computer by increasing its memory. It is still the same computer doing the same things, but better and faster. Jesus’ vision helps us see the Law of the Old Testament in a completely different light.

The Church in modern times calls us to be ready to move forward with new ways of understanding our faith and living it out. Traditions are still valid. However, we must never get bogged down in them to the point that we fail to respond to the clear signs of the times. Traditions can be understood in two ways: either as fundamental beliefs that existed from the very beginning, or simply as ways of doing or understanding things that have been around for a long time.

Christians today are obsessed with external observance of laws and regulations. They become a source of scrupulosity and fear. The Church in the present times faces the grave danger of deep divisions, as so many Catholics, including Church leadership, have become fanatical about the rubrics of worship. They are on constant watch for anyone who deviates from the rubric.

It is frightening to see the faithful fight one another on the streets in the name of the liturgy, then return to the altar to celebrate the Eucharist of forgiveness and love. Many engage in heated arguments on social media, discussing the number of candles to be lit on the altar, whether or not to extend one’s hands while praying the Lord’s prayer, whether to receive the Holy Communion in hand or on the tongue, the colour of the shoes of the altar servers … the list goes on and on.

In all things, our ultimate guide must be the law of love. A truly loving act can never be sinful, although at times, it may violate the letter of the law.