Reflection - Omission

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021918.cfm
Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
Matthew 25:31-46

There are a lot of things I don’t bother to memorize — no, I’ll go further than that — there are a lot of things I don’t bother to remember. I don’t memorize or remember phone numbers; my phone will do that for me — if I can just reference a name. I don’t memorize or remember appointments. My iPad will do that for me and even remind me when one is scheduled — if I just bother to look. The knowing of trivial facts is not even worth the mental effort of storing them since google, or Alexa or some similar gadget can tell me anything in a flash if I just ask the question.

Things are different now from when I was a child and memorizing was an essential part of education. Back then we memorized things like the ‘times tables,’ the state capitals, and Catechism Q & A. We even memorized some weird things like kingdom-phylum-class-order-family-genus-species in biology.

Still, my generation is a far cry from the memorization habits of individuals in Biblical times when the memorization of what happened in a people’s past was common. As we know, a significant portion of the Bible was passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth long before it ever came to be written. And, remarkably, the specifics have largely been proven accurate by archaeological studies.

It seems to me that memorization still has a place in modern culture, or, more specifically, in the lives of modern Christians. But what are we to memorize? Today’s readings offer two examples of the kinds of things thought worthwhile for all Christians to know. And, fortunately, by in large they do. Both the commandments, first spelled out by Moses, and the practice of caring for the poor, emphasized by Jesus, are known by most Christians — and many non-Christians as well, though the later don’t necessarily acknowledge a God or Jesus even when they support these teachings. For Christians, these are things we keep in our memory, and with good reason.

Some mistakenly think that these are man’s laws, the product of man’s social development and the outgrowth of human civilization. If we accept such notions as true, then these laws are necessarily subject to being discarded or changed as cultural norms shift and vacillate. In many cases, obedience to these laws offers warm fuzzies in return as we internally celebrate the good we have done for our fellow man by simply offering food and clothing. In other cases we acknowledge the law’s necessity in maintaining an orderly society. But that is often done by subjecting their interpretation to cultural norms that teach “we shall not kill what is not an inconvenience”, or “we shall not commit adultery unless it is by mutual consent.”

In spite of those who would discard the past as irrelevant for today, the laws given through Moses and Jesus continue to have an impact even as we socially refine them to fit our current beliefs and circumstances. What is less likely to receive attention, because there was no Question and Answer to be memorized regarding it, is the source of these teachings. Psalm nineteen, which is quoted in part in the responsorial Psalm, draws our attention to this matter, lest we forget.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
The ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

Whether the Psalmist was referring to the words God spoke through Moses or anticipating the teaching we heard later in the words of God’s Son, his statement applies to both. The law of the Lord is perfect, trustworthy, right, clear, just and true. And, implicitly, not subject to change. For this very reason it would seem that our memorization of the Catechism Q and A was notably deficient. We memorized the law but were passive in memorizing an acknowledgment of their source. And that is an important omission! Unless we firmly retain the sense that God is the source of these directives and that His words are Spirit and life, then we will inevitably descend into the loneliness of our humanity where all Law will whither like grass.