“The Ten Commandments were not a suggestion.”

He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good.^* If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”– St Matthew

Scripture Text: (1 COR 2:6-10)

Brothers and sisters:

We speak a wisdom to those who are mature,

not a wisdom of this age,

nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.

Rather, we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden,

which God predetermined before the ages for our glory,

and which none of the rulers of this age knew;

for, if they had known it,

they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

But as it is written:

What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard,

and what has not entered the human heart,

what God has prepared for those who love him,

this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.

For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.

We truly are children of God, in that we are, well, children. Little children, in fact. There is very little, if anything, that we can do by ourselves, without the care and guidance of God.

I don't think I'm telling anyone anything new when I say that the laws the human race comes up with on its own can cause a lot of destruction. They many times leave behind a broken world, broken lives, and broken hearts.

The way of life in which mankind is most fulfilled, in which we can truly live is something only attainable by us as a gift from God. That gift is given to us via the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that makes the mind of God accessible to his children. Through the Holy Spirit, we learn wisdom from our Creator, and come into spiritual adulthood. We begin to live as we were meant to, the way our broken hearts ache to live.

The Prophet Isaiah and the Psalmist in today’s Mass had learned through the school of hard knocks what it meant to try and live life according to the ways of man. Their people had suffered grievously because of it, and their hearts had been broken time and again. The Law of the Lord was more than a set of rules to them. It was a source of untold healing after their suffering.

I think the important thing to do in light of today's Scriptures is to pray for the Holy Spirit to enter more deeply into our lives - to heal our wounds, and to help us find the joy we were truly meant to possess in this life, by living as we were meant to.