Sir 15.15-20; 1 Cor 2.6-10; Mt 5.17-37

• God wants us to know that we are truly free. In every aspect of life we have a choice: fire or water, life or death, good or evil. If we want to be saved, we are counselled to follow God’s commands.

• St. Paul also tells us that we are called to live in the mature wisdom of faith, not following the wisdom of this world. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminds us, “This world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”

• Since we are both free and mature, Our Lord warns us that “You shall not kill” and “Whoever then relaxes as much as one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.”

• Do we secretly wish that the Church would change her teachings? Do we internally rebel or merely tolerate them, considering ourselves to be truly wise and spiritually advanced, like those immature Corinthians St. Paul writes of? Let us pray for greater maturity, docility, and steadfastness in the faith.

Pro-Life Intercession

That God, who commands us not to kill, may strengthen the efforts of all His people to end abortion, we pray to the Lord...