The law cannot save you however, you can not say you love God if you disregard his law…..God sees the human heart, and it is in and through God’s “view” of our heart and actions that we all will be judged…..So continuously examine your heart - And never cease to “act” upon what you “see”

Today at Holy Mass Jesus addresses some misconceptions about the Pharisees….Many people today in the Christian world like to point to the law of God as something that Jesus had no concern about…And how the Pharisees who incorrectly and singularly focused on the law, missed the intent of the law….Which is to love God and love our neighbor ….This can and is true…However…Jesus tells his friends that it was not what the Pharisees taught that was the problem, the problem was they did not have the love of God in their hearts as they taught the law…..“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven”…Jesus tells us very clearly in Scripture…“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill”……What does that say to me?….We can get “everything right” and still be “wrong” in the eyes of God if our hearts are not geared properly towards love….What else does that say to me?…We can disregard the laws of God and use the “Pharisees” and their application of the law as an excuse - Many Christians do this……God gave us his law to keep us safe…Just as a Father has “rules” in his house…To keep his children safe…However, we can not “worship the rules”…We must worship God, who gave us “rules” because he loves us

“If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered.”

People do not like to be told what to do…The word “rules” make some people instantly “turn away”…..The way I see it, its all about how you view “the rules”…If you view them as a means to an end…It makes following them much easier……Years ago, I was leaving Mass on a Sunday morning and a childhood friend of mine was drunk out of his mind and came staggering into the Church…He must have been out all night….As providence would have it…I was at the door of the Church as he walked in…I immediately knew he was drunk and was afraid he would get arrested…So I walked him into the back of the Church and sat him down……Clearly, a person in his condition should not be in Church….One could even say, and many probably would have called the police if such a person walked into Church on a Sunday morning…However, I thought it was better to “take another route”…My friend clearly “had something on his mind” otherwise he would not have walked into Church on that Sunday morning….So I thought it best to sit him down in the back…..When we view “the laws” of God…And view them rigidly…We can de-humanize our faith……What is the intent of the law?…To love - Period Full Stop!….If we uphold the law and do not love our fellow man….We accomplish nothing…As I wrote this, I think of what St Paul said in Scripture…”If I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.”……Sadly, there are “two camps” at present within the Catholic Church…You can view them in plain sight on social media…One is very libertine in its view of our Catholic faith…The other camp is so focused on the rules, that it seems to forget human weakness and at times loses sight of God himself - Allowing “the rules” to almost become God…..Both camps miss the mark in my view…Jesus addresses this today in the Gospel…He tells us…Don’t be like the Pharisees, but at the same time, don’t disregard either what the Pharisees teach and say…Its not necessarily what you say, its the intent by which you say it…..Jesus is asking us to examine our heart….The laws of God are important…Why?…Because they lead us to God…The laws of God keep us safe…Therefore they can not be disregarded…However, if the law becomes the de-facto God….You lose your sense of humanity…..And in the process you lose your relationship with Jesus Christ

For with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption; And he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities”

Jesus today in the Gospel tells his friends to not be so quick to disregard the Pharisees but at the same time, he tells them to not be like them…..It all comes down to your heart……What is in your heart?….In the first reading from Mass we hear this exchange….”You say, “The LORD’s way is not fair!” Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?”…….Jesus is constantly “putting a mirror” in front of his friends….He does the same thing to us as well…He asks us today….What is in your heart?…..”Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift”……Sometimes you can do “everything right” and still be wrong.....It all comes down to our intent….To love God above all things and love your neighbor as yourself…..In doing this, we fulfill the law but don’t worship the law….The law cannot save you however, you can not say you love God if you disregard his law…..God sees the human heart, and it is in and through God’s “view” of our heart and actions that we all will be judged…...So continuously examine your heart - And never cease to “act” upon what you “see”