The Imitation of Christ
by Msgr. Richard Henning

First Reading: Isaiah 56:7-10
Responsorial: Psalm 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:13-16

Christianity is not a set of rules, it is a relationship, it is good news, it is an open response to the God Who is Love and Who has loved us to the end. Perhaps observations such as this from saints, popes, preachers, and spiritual authors have become commonplace.
 
In Paul’s day, it was not so obvious. There in the first days of discipleship, Paul had to battle to prevent the faith from being reduced to ritual observance. Most of the first Christians were born and raised Jewish – many belonged to that strictest of sects, the Pharisees. The observance of the Law was a central and presumed truth of their religious lives. We can imagine how some of those first Christians might have explained the matter to new converts from outside of Israel’s tradition. Of course, all Christians held that the Christ event had inaugurated the Reign of God with all its Old Testament promises that the Gentiles would at last come to faith in the One God. Nonetheless, they may have pointed out that this same Jesus was Himself born and raised Jewish – under the Law. His pious parents had him circumcised and He worshipped God in the Synagogues and Temple. Would it not logically flow that Gentiles who would be His disciples must also keep God’s law?
 
We can imagine this advice because we have so many examples in the Letters of Paul denouncing just this kind of thinking. Paul welcomed Gentile converts and he did not require that they observe Jewish ritual practices such as table fellowship rules or circumcision. His fierce opposition to the imposition of such practices did not flow from a desire to make the process easier for Gentiles – it was founded on his experience of the grace of Christ.

As he analyzed the problem in Romans, Paul understood that the Gentiles lived in darkness and ignorance of God. While they should have looked to creation and been able to discern the hand of the Creator - instead they worshipped the created order. Israel, even with the gift of the Law found herself unable to remain faithful. The Law, rather than deliverance, only emphasized their failure to keep it. Into this universal hopelessness, God sends His Only Begotten Son. Jesus reveals God to the nations and fulfills Israel’s calling to respond faithfully to the covenant relationship.
 
Paul Himself experienced the gift of grace in his conversion. His “observance” of the Law lead him to sin. The forgiveness and transformation that came on the road to Damascus were unmerited. In this new dispensation, the disciple does express his or her faith in deeds as well as words, but this new life is not a matter of a new, changed, or expanded set of rules. This measure of this new Christian life is the Christ. It is in relationship to Him that the believer knows grace.

The passage this Sunday from First Corinthians expresses this truth succinctly. He did not coming preaching a message but a person, not a law but a loving relationship. That Crucified Lord of his preaching is the icon of the Father and of a new, renewed human person.
 
Beginning with the passage from Paul sheds light on the depth of meaning to be found in the other readings. Isaiah’s prophecy speaks God’s wish that His people practice loving compassion one to another. The command to share with those in need is not the imposition of an obligation, but an invitation to grace. This prophecy and Psalm 112 both reveal that the one who would know the goodness of God must immerse him/herself in that selfsame goodness. Recall that in Genesis, God entrusts the earth to human beings who exercise “dominion.” And recall that the Creator exercises dominion as the outpouring of loving, life-giving care. Here the prophet teaches the people to exercise that same Divine love in their care of one another.
 
Following on the Beatitudes last Sunday, today's passage from Matthew continues to recite from the Sermon on the Mount. Using metaphorical imagery, these verses invite the listener to see the strong link between a relationship with God and the goodness that flows from and towards the Divine. Light is not divided - it is integral and whole - likewise the Love of God and the loving response of the disciple.
 
The Christian life is not a set of doctrines or a list of required actions. It is a relationship with God, through Christ Our Lord. Our morality, then, is not law, but imitation of this Christ who is the Face of the Living and Loving God and the mirror that reveals the glory of humankind. To imitate Him is to know God and our truest selves.